


Kairos

by Vocalize (LittleLordDio)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1940s, Alpha Tom Riddle, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Harry Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, M/M, Mind Games, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Omega Harry Potter, Past Abuse, Possessive Tom Riddle, Railroading by the fates, Slytherin Harry Potter, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-07-03 21:35:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15827394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLordDio/pseuds/Vocalize
Summary: After the death of Cedric, Harry knows he can't continue on like this. Voldemort will never stop attacking him, and if he wants a chance at defeating him, things need to change.'Time travel.' Perhaps it was suicidal, but it was a good a chance as any. Kill Voldemort when he was just a school boy, before he was too powerful beyond comprehension.He just didn't expect his Potions professor to tag along for the ride. Or for him to to be inexplicably attracted to the psychopath that killed his parents. What on earth is an omega anyway?





	1. Harry does research

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do an omegaverse for a while now, but I never figured out how to work it in an angle that was interesting for me to write about. I decided to combine it with on of my favorite tropes: Harry goes back in time. The omega stuff won't come in to play for a while, as these first few chapters are needed for set up.
> 
> I've got the story planned out, but I haven't completely finished writing it yet. Just a heads up.

The playing field had never been even, for as long as Harry could remember, life had been utterly stacked against him. The encounter he had at the end of the school year taught him as much- as long as Voldemort was alive, he would never be left alone. The man would continue to go after him, endangering anyone Harry would ever care about ever in the process.

He- He couldn’t let another Cedric happen.

The idea came to him a few days after he had been dropped at his aunt’s house. The Dursleys had been watching some talk show on the telly. It was one of those rare moments he could catch a glance at the telly, as he had been cleaning the living the room. He had been swiping the windows, his mind constantly replaying the events of the graveyard. The voice of that monster taunting his every living moment. It was at that moments his ears caught something, his attention suddenly fully focused on the telly.

‘Say, John, if you could travel back in time, would you kill baby Hitler?’ The tv-audience laughed, but Harry’s breath hitched. Was that the solution to his problem? Killing Voldemort before the man became a problem? A future wherein Cedric could have lived? A future where his parents could have lived.

 _‘Dangerous things happen to wizards who mess with Time.’_ Hermione’s words sprang to the front of mind, and Harry felt his mood drop again. Besides, now that he thought about it, if time travel was possible, someone else would’ve used it already, right? Someone more intelligent than him, more powerful?

But the thought wasn’t something that would leave him, and in spite of himself, Harry could quickly feel himself becoming obsessed with the idea. With every mindless chore the Dursleys dropped on him, every moment he heard nothing of friends or Sirius, every moment left to his mourning mind, the idea became more and more of a lifeline. A far away ray of hope in the spiraling abyss of his mind. It became the only thing he could focus on, an impulse so strong Harry had trouble ignoring it.

Harry decided.. Well, he could at least look into the idea? If he could prevent his friends from ever getting hurt..

After three weeks spent with the Dursleys, Harry set out from the house on one uncharacteristically cold day. Harry knew it was suicidal, with Voldemort being back, but his mind was set. He snuck out at dawn, before any of the Dursleys would wake, and summoned the knight-bus a few streets away.

Harry knew Dumbledore would disapprove of him once again leaving his aunt’s ‘care’, and he wouldn’t be surprised it wouldn’t take long for the man to find out he was gone once Harry arrived at Diagon Alley. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was sent back to the Dursleys immediately. Harry knew he had to be quick with his business, though he was far from sure where he should actually start to look. Hermione had always been the researcher between the three of them.

Harry felt a pang in his heart. He had not heard from his friend’s all summer. It felt like second year all over again, but Harry doubted another house elf was nicking his letters..

He’d do it alone, then.

He thanked the bus driver as he got off, and quickly made his way towards the Leaky Cauldron. He made sure to flatten his hair over his scar, but he knew Tom the innkeeper was bound to recognize him anyway. He pulled up his hoodie, steeled himself, and tried to make his way to the entrance of the alley as quietly as possible.

As luck would have it, Tom was not at the bar at the moment. Harry heard a rumble from the kitchen. ‘Coming’ The innkeeper shouted. Harry had already left the pub before the innkeeper could get a glance at him.

He knew he’d stick out as a sore thump with his muggle clothes, but the only robes he had were his school clothes.. It was unfortunate, but not something he could do something about right now.

Harry decided to start at Flourish and Blotts, deciding it was as good a place to start as any. Now that he was actually in Diagon Alley, his lack of information seemed a much larger problem than it had in his head. He.. really had nothing to go on. He decided to just follow his instinct, the feeling that had been leading him towards Diagon Alley in the first place.

He roamed the bookshelves, looking for anything, anything that might help him. His eyes caught a small tattered old leather bound book, the letters on the cover worn and faded. ‘ **The steadiness of Chronos, the favor of Caerus.** ’ Harry recognized the name, knowing it was one of the Greek gods for time.

He opened the book, and read the first pages.

**Chronos, the Greek god of chronological time, often portrayed as an elderly man, is perhaps one of the most interesting gods within the Greek faith. Often contrasted with Caerus, the god of opportunity, and the Greek concept of Kairos, ‘a so called right time to do something’.**

Harry did not understand the feeling, but somehow he could tell he had found what he was looking for. He bought a few other books as well- **1940s- A wizarding perspective** and **Decorum through the ages** , and even **Changing times – A look at Magical Britain before the social revolution**. Harry was by no means as thorough as Hermione, but even he understood that he needed to extensive research if he even wanted to get close to his arch nemesis. If he succeeded to go back in time, no one could figure out who he really was.

Harry went to Gringotts, and took out all the gold of his trust vault. During his years in the wizarding world, it had been left mostly untouched, and Harry figured it would be enough to last him for a few more years at least. He exchanged some of his gold into pounds, and set out for the muggle world. Harry made a quick stop at a muggle book store for some more books on the 1940s, figuring the extra information couldn’t hurt.

He rented a room at a cheap motel, the kind of place that wouldn’t ask for identification if you paid a little extra, and started to tear through the books he had bought. If anyone was looking for him, surely the muggle world was the last place to expect him? He refrained from using magic, knowing the ministry would find out immediately.

The more Harry read, the more unsure he grew.

**Greek wizards always have believed in their god’s willingness to help them with the right offering, if the need truly exists. Caerus, though less well known, is believed to help mortals as well. No recorded instances of this happening exist, however, and it is unknown which offering the god of fortune would want for.**

**Several legends around West Greece indicate that the god will only help those chosen by the fates, if they find themselves by the entrance of Olympia on the full moon. Caerus will appear to them, if they call out for the god. Caerus would ask them what it is they search for, and send them to the moment the person thought to be the Kairos for their task, if the god judges their chosen point in time to be worthy enough.**

It was a long shot. Chosen by the fates? What did that even mean? Did the Greek gods even exist? Religion wasn’t something that was often openly discussed in the wizarding world, apparently considered more of a private affair. Harry wasn’t even sure what most people believed in at Hogwarts, Merlin, he’d never even given it much thought what he himself believed in.

Between the Dursleys and the annual attempts at his life, Harry supposed there was a lot he really had never thought about.

Going to Greece on a hunch, a shot in the dark, really. Drawing it even further, going back in time to kill Voldemort, had he ever had a more reckless and likely to fail plan? During all his years at Hogwarts, he had never been alone, answers to mysteries always handed to him on a silver platter. He felt utterly insecure, how could he be so stupid as to think this would ever work?

He couldn’t do this- He should just let Dumbledore handle this and- _Like he handled Quirrel? The chamber of Secrets? Sirius and Buckbeak? The tournament? You were always the one to clean up the dirty work.._ The voice in his mind supplied, and Harry’s expression darkened.

Confrontation with Voldemort was inevitable. It didn’t matter how far-fetched this plan was, for once, he was going to fight on his terms.

Harry pored back over his books, filled with a new sense of determination.

It didn’t take long for Harry to plan. A few trips to local libraries, and he found at the next date of the full moon- 22 July, and he made a plan to get to Greece. He didn’t manage to finish the books he had bought on the 1940s yet, but it would have to do. Two days after checking into the hotel, Harry set out on his journey, the full moon being that night already.

Much like he had earlier that summer, he slipped into the Leakey Cauldron early that morning. This time, however, Tom the innkeeper was at the bar. ‘Welcome, how can I help you?’ The elderly man asked. ‘Just passing through.’ Harry answered, as he tried to look as unsuspicious as possible.

Tom’s eyes widened in recognition. ‘Mister Potter? What are you doing here alone? If the rumors are true..’ Harry didn’t stay to listen, but quickly tapped the right bricks in the back of the inn, and rushed into Diagon Alley.

He had found out about the international floosystem during his third year, when he had been staying at the Leakey Cauldron. He would have preferred to use muggle means of transportation, the more time he spent in the wizarding world, the likelier it was word got back to Voldemort or Dumbledore, but Harry did not have a passport, so he doubted he could even manage to get onto a plane..

Luckily, wizarding folk were a paranoid bunch who did not want their privacy violated, so the international floo was barely monitored according to the information he had found. And with the ministry being in denial, it was unlikely they upped security measures.

Harry entered the Diagon Alley international Floo hub, and paid the teller the fee needed to use the service. The office had a board with the name of the various other hubs, which he would need to call out to reach the city of his choice.

An idea hit Harry. If anyone had seen him, why not make it harder to track him? He doubted it mattered, but the extra security measures couldn’t hurt. On a whim, Harry called out ‘Amsterdam, floo hub’ and threw down the powder.

 

Harry coughed as he stumbled out of the floo. He was covered in soot, as he always was when he got out of the floo. This office was set up in much the same way as the office in London had been, and Harry repeated the process. This time he called out for ‘Paris, floo hub’, and then ‘Sofia, floo hub, and then ‘Berlin, floo hub, finally finishing with ‘Athens, floo hub.’

Harry felt exhausted as he had reached his last floo destination. Although the floo didn’t draw on his own magic, the actual sensation of the travel took a toll on his body. And with how many times he had used it..

‘Man, you look like shit.’ Harry heard someone say behind him. He saw a blonde young man in muggle clothes, who was grinning widely. ‘Here, let me help ya!’ The man conjured a wand from his sleeve, and cast a smell on Harry in a language the boy did not recognize.

The soot disappeared from his skin, and Harry inclined his head in thanks. ‘Thank you.’ He mumbled, for extra effect. He turned around and left the shop, the young man quickly fading from his mind again. If he had looked back when he had left the shop, Harty would have noticed the man vanishing in thin air.

Harry left the Greek wizarding world, bought his bus ticket, and arrived at Olympia at around noon.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the archeological site, where presumable the entrance would be he was looking for, for that was where presumably the altar of Caerus would be. He followed around a tourist guide, and thanks to the pamphlet they had gotten at the start of the tour, Harry approximately found out where he needed to be. When the tour had ended, Harry hid on the site, waiting for night to fall.

Just as the sun was about to set, Harry heard of a voice behind him, the hair on his back standing up at the drawling sound of it.

‘Impromptu vacation, mister Potter?’


	2. The favour of Caerus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone leaving comments and kudos! It makes me very giddy to read all of your positive feedback. This chapter is from Snape's perspective, a first for me.

Severus had just returned to his run down house at Spinner’s end, finally able to get some sleep after the long summoning by the dark lord. The dark lord was preparing to bust several death eaters out of Azkaban, and had Severus brew several potions for him all day. He was about to remove his robes when his floo flared, Dumbledore coming out.

‘Severus, my boy. I’m afraid I need your help.’

Ah, just his luck. Even in his vacation there wouldn’t ever be a moment where he could just rest. There was always something going wrong. ‘I suppose this is important enough that it couldn’t wait until the order meeting?’ He asked, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. With Dumbledore, it could either be something seemingly inane, or something very, very dire.

‘I am afraid not.’ The man spoke, the twinkle in his eyes missing. The two of them moved to sit on some chairs in the pathetic drab kitchen. ‘Harry has left his residence, he has been signalled in Diagon Alley by Tom this morning.’

Always that infernal Potter boy. That spoilt brat was always causing trouble, even now, when the dark lord had returned and their world was moments away from falling under his tyrannical rule. ‘He was certain it was _Potter_?’ The last word came out a sneer, the word feeling dirty on his tongue.

Dumbledore nodded. ‘Yes. I already went to the Dursley residence to confirm- Harry has not been home for at least two days.’

‘Who had been watching the brat?’ Severus asked, though the answer seemed obvious. ‘Mundungus.’ Dumbledore answered with a sigh. Severus shook his head, of course Mundungus had been slacking during his duties. Why the headmaster trusted him with the task in the first place was a mystery to him.

‘We need to find him Severus.’ Before the dark lord does was left unspoken in the air. Severus was aware that Potter had a rebellious streak, but it could mean his death now. ‘I need your.. covertness for this Severus. The general public can’t find out what happened under any circumstance.’

‘Very well.’ This was going to be a long day, Severus could tell.

Severus arrived at the Leakey Cauldron, his appearance heavily glamoured. His eyes were now a pale brown, his hair a sandy blonde. His nose was smaller and shorter, and his hair longer. For good measure he had cast a disillusionment on himself.

The innkeeper had informed Dumbledore that Potter had immediately stalked out of the pub into Diagon Alley, and that he had been unable to ask where the boy was going. Severus decided to start simple, with an area spell to tell if the boy was still in the alley. It would appear he was not.

With nothing to go off on, Severus decided to take a slight risk.

He used legilimens to search through the unconscious memories of the passerby’s in the alley. He probed carefully, to not alert anyone of his presence in their mind. He searched for the image of Potter in their minds, trying to coax it to the front of their thoughts. It was always safer to coax memories to surface thoughts than to probe for them forcefully, it would be less likely anyone would be alerted to him that way.

All things considered, it hadn’t taken long for Severus to find what he was looking for. One witch had seen the boy enter the international floo hub at around dawn. The boy had gone abroad then? The spoilt brat figured NOW was the time to run off to a foreign country?

Severus entered the office, scanning the teller’s thoughts. The boy had gone to Amsterdam? Why? Severus shook his head, it did not matter. He didn’t bother asking, for the floo hub cared too much about their costumers to reveal their destinations. He took the floo to Amsterdam, and similarly scanned the thoughts of the shopkeeper. The boy had gone through the floo again, this time towards Paris.

Severus tracked the boy’s moves, growing increasingly annoyed with every floo trip. When he finally arrived in Athens, the tracks stopped. Here the brat had actually gotten out of the hub. A part of Severus was impressed, if one didn’t know legimency, tracking the boy would be much harder than it would be if he directly had gone to Athens.

Though he supposed people could have gotten the answer out of the teller with torture as well.

The next part of his search was painstakingly slow. He scanned the mind of every street vendor to see if they had seen the boy. Tracking his movement this way, Severus found himself in the muggle world; in front of a tourist agency.

For the final time, Severus scanned the thoughts of the shopkeeper, and found that the boy had bought a bus ticket to Olympia. Odd, Severus figured the boy was to dumb to have an interest in anything that didn’t have to do something with his fame or Quidditch, let alone ancient ruins.

No matter. He moved to an alley, and apparated to the ruins. Although he had never been to those ruins before, the muggle picture would be enough for him to image himself going to the location. It would have to be enough.

Severus kept himself from smirking as he looked around his surroundings, he had succeeded. This time he tried to do the searching spell again, certain it would work this time. The boy couldn’t have warded against it, for fear of alerting the ministry. Severus doubted the boy knew the spell anyway.

He followed the trail of light sprouting from his wand, a light only he could see. He remained disillusioned as quickly moved along the ancient ruins. He found Potter, hiding behind broken rubble, utterly unaware of his professor behind him.

The boy had the sense to at least wear his blasted invisibility cloak, but the cloak wouldn’t protect the boy from the tracking spell.

‘Impromptu vacation, mister Potter?’ He drawled, glaring at the boy.

He summoned the cloak wordlessly, revealing the brat. The brat in question turned around with a start, who returned his glare with similar intensity, a string of curses coming from his mouth. ‘It’s none of your business.’ The boy spat, insolent as ever. His arms were crossed, and he looked ready to bolt.

‘Are you truly this idiotic, boy?’ Severus spat, resisting the urge to grab the boy by his collar and shake some sense into him. ‘Whilst the dark lord is at large, Dumbledore has to waste resources on _you,_ because _you_ decided to run away from your palace.’ Severus continued, noticing the fury rising in the boy’s eyes. The boy bit his lip, apparently trying to contain his anger.

‘Do you take pleasure from making people worry about you?’ Severus asked incredulously. ‘What if your little friends had decided to go out and search for you? Are you not aware of how many people you endanger when you pull stunts like these?’ His words were like venomous dagger, hitting the Potter boy with each accusation.

‘You don’t know anything!’ Harry snapped, standing up his hands balled in fists. Severus raised a brow. ‘Are you sure, because to me it se-’ The Potter boy interrupted him, his voice was raised. ‘If I succeed, no one will have to get hurt ever again. No one will die for my sake ever again, no one will need to protect me.’ At those last words, tears had started to form in the boy’s eyes, and for once, Severus was at a lack for words.

‘I’m going to kill Voldemort.’ The boy looked him in the eyes, defiantly. He turned around, and walked towards the entrance of the ruins. Severus was shaken out of his stupor, and ran after the brat. He grabbed the boy by his sleeve, ready to apparate back to Britain, when the boy called out, his voice loud and strong.

‘Caerus, the greatest of the Greek gods. I beg of you; please bring me to the Kairos to fulfill my destiny.’

The air around them turned misty, and Severus felt his thoughts of apparating dissipate. All sounds around them quieted, and for a moment it felt as though Severus and the boy were the only people left in the world, as if nothing more existed than the two of them and the rubble around them.

Out of the mist, a figure appeared. A handsome young man, though he had only one lock of hair. The man was tiptoeing, a feral smirk on his face. The man held a razor in his hand, ready to strike when the perfect moment would present itself. ‘Summoning me? There are still mortals foolish enough?’ Severus swallowed, wondering what Potter had gotten them into now.

‘I need to defeat my foe, before he grows too powerful for me to do so.’ Harry answered, his voice even and his face without emotion. ‘I need to be sent to 1942- Before my mortal enemy, Tom Marvolo Riddle manages to open the chamber of secrets.’

The man, presumable Caerus seemed to think it over. And then he laughed, his body thrumming with anticipation. ‘The fates have many a prophecy about you, Harry James Potter. Your whole life people have decided your destiny- the path you should walk.’ The man circled them, a gleam in his eyes. ‘But now you decide to create your own moment to strike.’ The man paused in front of them, Severus still holding onto the sleeve of the boy.

‘Very well, Harry, I will send you to your chosen time. I’ll put your fate in your own hands, I’ll allow you the _opportunity_ to make of your life what you want it to be, to interpret fate in your own way.’ The man smirked, his eyes gleaming dangerously, he turned to Severus, his stare penetrating.

‘And you Severus Snape. Will you follow the boy in order to keep up your vow? Or will you stay and risk losing your magic?’ The man asked, and Severus felt himself freeze up. ‘What?’ He heard Potter ask, utterly confused.

Severus didn’t have a lot of time to comprehend what was happening, or who the man in front of them was. All he knew was that he would have to act fast if he wanted to keep the insufferable brat safe- if he wanted to keep Lilly’s child safe. He couldn’t leave the boy alone to face the dark lord all by himself.

‘Very well. Send me with the boy to where ever you are going to send him.’ He hung his head, knowing he couldn’t stop the god from sending the boy to the past. ‘Although you weren’t send here by the fates, Severus Snape, the boy will need you, so I will grant your request.’

‘Now wait a sec-’ Harry started, his temper quickly starting up. He was interrupted by Caerus.

‘Hermes, I know you are here. Could you send for Hebe?’ The god said, looking behind him, where another handsome figure appeared. Hermes, the god of travellers and thievery. ‘You’re the man from the floo hub.’ Harry gasped, his anger momentarily forgotten.

‘Hiya Harry.’ The man waved at the Potter scion, and returned his attention to Caerus. ‘It’s rare for you to want to help a mortal, Caerus.’ Severus knew enough about the language the gods were exchanging to know they were speaking in ancient Greek, but he didn’t know enough about the language to understand more than a few words. Hermes flew off, the wings on his sandals fluttering.

‘He is to retrieve one of the goddesses, for if I want to help you Severus, I’ll need her help in order to bring you to your Kairos.’ The god didn’t offer more explanation than that, and neither Harry nor Severus dared to speak.

It didn’t take long for a new figure to appear from the mist. A young woman, with long flowing brown hair, and rosy cheeks. ‘Caerus.’ She said as greeting as she took in the sight before her. ‘You require my help?’ She inquired, focusing her attention on Severus.

‘You can make him young again, can’t you Hebe?’ Caerus asked, growing agitated. He was shifting his weight from one toe to the other. Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, that much Severus knew. ‘Yes.’ She simply said, taking in all of Severus in front of her. ‘You will find forgiveness, Severus Snape.’ She whispered into Severus ears, as she lifted her cup to his lips.

‘Drink.’ She ordered, and Severus found himself unable to disobey her. After a few careful sips, she took away the cup, and gave Severus a kind smile. ‘Be careful, any more than that, and you would have found yourself returning to infancy.’

Severus didn’t feel what was happening with his body, paralyzed in awe by the divinity of the gods. The goddess returned to the mist, and Cearus snapped his fingers.

‘Best of _luck_ , wizards.’

And so, the two wizards plunged towards the darkness, falling for what seemed like an eternity, whilst also feeling like no time at all.

When the darkness cleared, the wizards found themselves several kilometres from where they had been, fifty-two years from when they had been. They fell onto the ground, drawing the attention of several armed muggles.

‘Nazis.’ Harry gasped, the Swastika prominently displayed on the uniform of the muggle men. The men shouted in German. With Severus understanding the language, he knew they found themselves seconds away from death.

‘It’s like witchcraft! These two appeared out of thin air.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Harry and Severus find themselves in the past. What more do the gods know about the trails awaiting for Harry?


	3. Occupied Greece

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Tom will finally meet in the next chapter, so there's that! Once again, thanks for all the kudos and comments. :)

Harry started to doubt whether it had really been fortunate that Caerus had decided to help them, when he stared into the barrel of a riffle. The men were shouting in German, and Harry didn’t dare to reach into his pocket to grab his wand. He had the feeling if he were to move even an inch, he would be riddled with bullets.

‘Stupefy!’ Someone shouted in succession, a man in his late twenties quickly appearing on the scene. The Nazis fell before they had the chance to fire off their riffles, chaos and confusion filling the streets as muggles witnessed the scene in front of them.

‘Obliviate.’ The man casted on the Nazis, and then he turned to Harry and Severus, shaking his head in anger, he shouted at them in Greek. At their non-reaction, he sighed, and rubbed his temple in presumed frustration.

 ‘Expecto Patronum.’ Out of the smoke billowing from the man’s wand, a small silver swan appeared. The man whispered to his Patronus, and the beast flew off. He turned back to Harry and Snape, and seemed to ask them something. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand you.’ Harry explained, hoping the man would catch on they did not speak their language.

‘English?’ The man asked, his accent heavy, the sounds of the language foreign on his tongue. ‘Wizards?’ He asked, eyeing them carefully, though he seemed fairly certain of the answer. ‘Yes.’ Harry nodded, hoping the man would understand. The man pointed his wand at Harry and Snape, Harry was about to take out his own in retaliation when he felt someone push his arm back down.

‘Don’t, Potter.’ Snape said. Harry huffed, but decided keep calm for now. ‘Illud quidem intellegitur Graecae.’ The spell hit Harry, and he felt himself fill with the knowledge of an entire language. Ah, he had been hit by a language charm then. Harry had heard of those, apparently they were often used for international wizarding schools, ‘where there wasn’t a lingua franca.’ As Hermione would have put it, she had been fascinated by the concept in their fourth year.

The wizard repeated the process with Snape, and helped them to their feet. ‘Come, quickly, before the jerries return. You boys caused enough trouble as it is.’ The three of them fell into an easy sprint, with the wizard occasionally checking if Harry and Snape were still following him.

He let them into an inconspicuous home, an elderly woman shaking her head in dissatisfaction as the three of them surged in. ‘Have you been causing trouble again, Alexandros?’ She asked, closing the door behind her, plunging the stone house into near darkness.

‘Evi. No, I found these two boys. They apparated right into the jerries. Brits, by the look of it.’ Evi shook her head, and used her foot to move part of the carpet in the room, revealing a hatch. ‘Go on through, I hope you had the sense to call for clean up?’

‘I send a Patronus, it shouldn’t take long for the obliviators to take care of it.’ Alexandros nodded, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He gestured for Harry and Snape to go down the hatch, both of them complying for the time being.

Alexandros did not follow immediately, leaving Harry and Snape alone in some sort of wine cellar. Harry finally felt himself coming down from the adrenaline, realisation setting in. He had actually done it. He had travelled back in time. The Greek gods were real. Snape had followed him back in time.

Wait, what? He raptly turned his head, ready to send some harsh remarks to his potions professor. Why did the man follow him to the past? What vow had Caerus been talking about? But all those questions died at the tip of his tongue as he took in the appearance of the man- no, boy in front of him.

‘Merlin.’ He breathed out, his eyes widening. His previously nearly middle-aged professor looked like a wide eyes teenager, several inches smaller, his skin less sunken in, his hair less greasy. ‘Snape?’ He spluttered, the other growing increasingly agitated under Harry’s attention.

‘What, Potter, surely you noticed I came along on your foolish stunt earlier?’ He snarked, glaring at Harry. Harry simply shook his head, to baffled to be upset by his professor’s tone. ‘No- I mean, have you seen yourself?’ Harry asked.

Snape narrowed his eyes in confusion and suspicion, but said nothing to Harry as he summoned a small mirror. The man paled as he took in his appearance, his mask dropping in surprise. ‘This can’t be.’ He muttered, gingerly reaching out to his face in disbelieve.

‘Hebe.. That’s what the liquid must have been.’ He whispered, dread creeping up on his face. Harry supposed he would have been pretty upset as well, if he were to suddenly de-age almost twenty years. Why had Snape been sent to him to the past in the first place? Did it have to do with the vow Caerus spoke of? Didn’t the god say he needed Snape? He didn’t need that git..

Steps sounded from above, and Alexandros descended from the stairs leading to the cellar. He stopped in front of them, and conjured some chairs for them to sit in. ‘Well, let’s start by telling me who you are.’ He told them in Greek. ‘My name is Alexandros.’ He added, for the sake of goodwill.

Harry hesitated and took a quick glance at Snape, who had schooled his features. Harry bit his lip, there was no way he could tell their Greek savior the truth, but he hadn’t thought up an alter ego yet either. The three of them found themselves at a stalemate, Harry and Snape refusing to answer, and the Greek growing agitated.

‘Look. It’s not everyday we find Brits in these parts anymore, I did save your ass from the jerries, the least you can do is tell me who you are. Otherwise I’ll bring in someone to read your minds, and get the answer a lot more painfully.’ He crossed his arms, waiting for either boy to respond.

Wait? Mind reading is a thing? He had to be bluffing, right. But a defeated sigh coming from Snape told him a different story. ‘As far as I know, _proven_ usage of legilimency is considered to be illegal under international wizarding law. The usage may result in severe penalty for you. Your threat, just now, is as good as proof.’ He said, his words dripping with challenge.

The man barked a laugh. ‘Do you really think those rules apply, boy? We’re at war, there is no such thing as illegal! Not with what the jerries, and Grindelwald’s forces are doing!’ Snape looked impassive at the words, but kept quiet nonetheless.

‘Our family got attacked.’ Harry lied, saying the fist thing that came to mind. ‘My name is Severus, and that is my little brother Hadrianus.’ Snape added. Harry wanted to puke at the thought of him and Snape being brothers, but if those mind readers really were a thing, they needed to be believable enough in order for Alexandros to let them go before they could appeared.

‘Our mother was British, our father is.. Albanian?’ Harry’s last words came out more like a question, and he had to stop himself from cringing out how obvious he was being. Snape shot him a glare at his wavering tone, and smoothly expanded on Harry’s lie. ‘Our mother is wanted by Grindelwald’s forces, so our family fled to Greece and went into hiding here.’

Harry pretended to swallow, and looked away in sadness. ‘Our father he’s muggle, he didn’t stand a chance..’ Harry paused for effect. ‘Mother.. They had come too quickly.. She didn’t have her wand on her. She shoved us out of the backdoor, told us to run as fast as we could, and told Severus to apparate us away as soon as we were out of the wards. She.. she went to distract them.’

Harry bit his lip, hoping his acting was decent enough to trick the wizard. Snape kept silent, but looked more sorrowful than usual. Alexandros, for his part, raised a brow, but didn’t seem to doubt their story. ‘It isn’t unheard of.. if your mother was hiding from Grindelwald, I understand your hesitance to reveal your identity to a strange wizard.’ His eyes softened. ‘I hope you can understand my suspicion, though. I know that you are children, but-’ His face darkened, as if he were remembering something. ‘-These are dark days.’

‘We just need to get to Britain, sir. We are sure Hogwarts will take us in.’ Severus said, clenching his sleeve, his words dripping with forced insecurity. ‘That wizarding school?’ Alexandros hummed, crossing his arms. ‘I personally went to Durmstrang, but I suppose they won’t take in two half-bloods.. Did your mother homeschool you?’

‘Yes.’ Harry and Snape answered simultaneously. ‘I am sorry for your loss.’ The wizard seemed sympathetic to their fictional plight. Harry nodded dumbly, not trusting himself to not over act. ‘Well, I suppose you could take the international floo-connection to Paris, from there, you can floo over to London, if I remember correctly.’ The man seemed to think it over.

‘I don’t know how I feel about leaving you to go to Britain alone, however.. As an adult, it wouldn’t be right to leave you to fend for yourself.’ The man nodded to himself. Harry gave Snape an anxious glance. ‘Please stay at my home for a few days, at least until we are certain Hogwarts will take you in. Just to ease my conscience, and for me to be certain you do not end up on the streets.’

‘Very well.’ Snape sighed, Harry nodding in agreement. If this took some suspicion off from them, perhaps it wasn’t the worst course of action. The wizard had been kind enough to save them, after all. ‘I’ll take you to my home, you can use one of my owls to send a message to the headmaster.’ The man explained with a smile of his face. ‘Ah- Let me say goodbye to my grandmother, it’s her house we fled to during the commotion.

The man apparated them to his house, showing them to a small guest room. The room was small and bare, with one bed, a small wooden desk, and an old wardrobe. The man transfigured another bed, equally as bare as the other, but functional nonetheless.

‘There are sheets in the wardrobe you can use, and there should be some paper and quills in the desk drawer. I am afraid I have to leave you two alone for a while, as I need to check up on the scene the two of you created earlier.’ He said with a wink, as he left the two of them alone.

Harry groaned as he said down on the bed. This was not.. what he had been expecting when he went back into the past. At least he had a decent enough backstory, believable but vague enough for people at Hogwarts to buy it. He wasn’t sure what to think about Alexandros and his meddling, though the man had saved him. Not to mention his tag-along.

‘You owe me an explanation, brat.’ Severus spat in English, his voice several octaves higher than they had previously been. It almost made his words seem.. comedic. ‘Of what?’ Harry snorted. ‘Why did you drag me to.. the past?’ Severus asked, deciding to stop playing games.

‘I didn’t drag you anywhere. You were the one who decided to tag along. What vow did you make anyway?’ Harry, however, wasn’t completely done playing games at all. ‘You know what I mean, Potter, why did you decide to pull this _stunt_.’ Snape decided to ignore his question, it seemed. He had grabbed a quill from the desk, and was currently writing something.

‘Only if you answer my question first.’ Harry pouted. He knew he shouldn’t push his potions professor too much, but it had been the man’s own decision to come here. There was no reason to feel guilty for dragging the professor along.

The professor in question stopped writing, and turned to face Harry, his face weary, making the man look more his age. Snape sighed, and looked Harry in his eyes. A shadow of emotion flickered over his face, but the man quickly hid it. Snape fired off a few silencing wards, and started talking.

‘I knew your mother.’ He said, the words feeling painful, the unspoken truths like daggers. ‘We were friends once-.’ Harry’s eyes widened by the admission. Snape had been friends with this mother, that couldn’t be- but why? ‘You’re lying.’ Harry shook his head in disbelieve.

Snape snarled, but regained his cool. ‘For once in your life Potter, listen to what I have to say. Don’t dismiss the truth because it is not what you want to hear. Listening carefully, keep silent, and refrain from judging until I have finished talking.’ He spat, Harry looked away ashamed.

‘I suppose I was in love with her.’ Snape continued, Harry wanted to gag at his words, but wisely kept silent. For once in his life, he was getting straight answers. ‘During our school years, we were friends for many years. Until.. After a certain incident, Lily tried to help me after I had been thoroughly embarrassed. In my rage and hurt at her seeing me like this, I did the unforgivable.’

Harry leaned forward in anticipation. ‘I called her a mudblood.’ The words came out like whispers, guilt painting Snape’s entire being. Harry wasn’t sure what to make of this, something told him Snape was telling the truth. He had called his mother a slur..

‘After this, your mother had stopped associating with me. Understandably, she could not forgive me.’ Severus sighed, and seemed to contemplate something. ‘I knew I could never make it up to her, so I decided to do the next best thing. I vowed to protect you, at risk of losing my magic.’ Snape finished, giving Harry a tired look.

Harry was not aware of how much Snape had omitted there.

It also explained the animosity Snape had towards him, he supposed. If the man had vowed to protect him, he had basically agreed to give himself up for Harry’s life. It was not like he had ever asked for that protection.. though. Well.. He supposed he could at least give his reasoning to the potions professor. It seemed like they’d be stuck with each other for a while.

‘I can’t beat Voldemort like I am now, and he is not going to stop attacking me, and anyone I’ll ever care for.’ He pulled his knees up to his chest, and hugged them close. ‘But if I were to face him before he became too powerful, too educated.. I might have a chance.’ He looked at Snape, who noticed the fire burning in his eyes. ‘I don’t know anything about Riddle’s youth- but at least I know he was still in Hogwarts during 1943, so I can at least locate him.’

‘I won’t let another person die for my sake.’ Harry said determinedly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably won't update until Tuesday. I'll probably will be too drunk to post on Friday, too hung over on Saturday, and I'll be traveling back to university on Sunday. >:
> 
> Also, I got into the honours college program of my university! I'm so excited.


	4. The last of summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments everyone! I'm glad people are enjoying reading this story. I am glad to say that the Hogwarts part of the story has finally begun.

Harry and Snape had come to an uneasy alliance, with Snape even insisting Harry call Snape ‘Severus’ in order to not rouse any suspicion. Both did their best to be civil with each other, knowing it was the only way forward. Severus had been.. surprised by the bra- no Harry’s determination. Perhaps there was more to the boy than he initially thought.

During the day, they ran errands for Alexandros, who brewed potions for the Greek wizarding locale. At night, they worked on their backstory, making sure they had an air-tight story to tell if they needed to.

During one of their errands, Severus and Harry had the luck to locate an Albanian wizard, who they asked to preform the language charm on them, feigning an interest in the language. Harry felt guilty as he watched Severus cast obliviate, but he had to get over some of his moral hang-ups if he wanted to succeed in his goals. They needed their alibi to be watertight, the ability to speak Albanian would surely help.

During their stay, Severus had cast the English version of the charm on Alexandros, who admittedly always had wanted to learn the language. To compensate, Severus and Harry always made sure that they casted strong privacy wards when discussing sensitive information. If Alexandros noticed, he did not comment on their strong paranoia.

Severus had finally explained his choice of name during their third night of their stay at Alexandros’s home.

‘Why Hadrianus? Is there something wrong with Harry?’ Harry frowned, thinking back to when they had first been making up their backstory. It had been difficult remembering to introduce himself as Hadrianus, and even harder to remember to respond when someone called out to him.

‘I figured the discrepancy would be too large between our names, if we’re pretending to be brothers. Most wizarding families have naming traditions, especially pure-blooded ones. It would be odd if our names weren’t in the same tradition. I was named after a roman emperor, I remembered Hadrianus being one as well, so it wouldn’t differ too much from your actual name.’ Severus explained with a sigh.

‘Why not chance your own name, then?’ Harry countered, hugging his pillow. ‘It didn’t occur to me.’ Severus said, and Harry had to resist the urge to throw his pillow at the older wizard. ‘What about a last name? What name did you use to sign off your letter to Dippet?’

‘Shehu.’ Severus answered. ‘It’s supposed to be a fairly common muggle Albanian surname.’

‘Hadrianus Shehu, huh?’ Harry tried to sound out his ‘new name’, uncomfortable with the way it rolled off his tongue. He had to work hard if he wanted to make his cover identity his own.

 

The next morning, Alexandros called them downstairs, saying that two Hogwarts professors had come to talk to them. Severus had turned to Harry, had casted a quick privacy spell, his expression even more grave than usual.

‘If Dumbledore is present, do not look him in the eye. He will be able to read your mind, and with how experienced a legimens he is, it is unlikely you will notice his probing.’ Harry blanched, he had almost forgotten about the mindreading.

‘Is there a way to prevent someone from looking into my mind?’ Harry asked, anxiety swelling up in his throat. What if Voldemort could read his mind? His plan would be doomed from the start. Severus seemed to consider something, when he finally answered. ‘Yes. There is. I will explain after this meeting, it wouldn’t do to keep them waiting.’

‘I’ll hold you to that.’ Harry reminded, as the two of them made their way downstairs. It felt weird, not trusting Dumbledore, but Harry couldn’t risk the man stopping them from killing Voldemort. It was uncertain if the headmaster would understand; when he hadn’t lived through the future they had. Besides, the fewer knew about the time travel, the less complicated things could become.

Severus opened the door, revealing Alexandros in his newly learned English trying to engage Dumbledore and another man, who Harry did not recognize. Dumbledore looked much younger, his hair having some of it’s original brown colouring, the man still wearing his clashing robes. The other man was pudgy, but well kept.

‘Ah, Hadrianus, Severus, these men have come to talk to you.’ Alexandros exclaimed in Greek. ‘Do you want me to give you some privacy?’ He asked, though it was obvious he actually didn’t really want to leave. ‘You can stay, Alexandros, it is your home, after all.’ Harry answered, developing somewhat of a soft-spot for the man’s prying nature.

Dumbledore gave them a warm smile, his eyes twinkling like they always did. ‘Ah, you must be the boys who wrote? Severus and Hadrianus Shehu?’ He asked, as he moved to shake their hands. The other man introduced himself as Horace Slughorn, not unkindly, but seemingly not that interested in them.

‘I understand you two are interested in attending Hogwarts?’ Dumbledore asked, to which Harry and Severus nodded. ‘We were homeschooled before.. but.. well.’ Harry explained, keeping Severus’s words in his mind, he tried his best to not make any eye-contact.

‘A tale becoming increasingly common in these times.’ Slughorn exclaimed gravely, looking vaguely sympathetic to their plight. ‘It’s not often we accept foreign students at Hogwarts, but in cases like these we do make exceptions.’ Dumbledore explained, pinning his gaze on the two boys. Harry, who looked away subtly, and Severus, who knew his shield were strong again against any probing.

‘You do have a British relative, and as you’re half-blood, Durmstrang will not take you in as students. It is unwise to leave magical children without an education. Headmaster Dippet has decided to allow you to attend Hogwarts, provided you keep up your grades. And as with all foreign students receiving amnesty, you’ll be held underneath a higher degree of scrutiny. You have to be worth the resources we invest in you.’ Slughorn said frankly, as he took some documents from his bag.

It seemed times were harsher in the 1940s. Although he had never met a foreign student at Hogwarts in his time, he had never heard of a grade minimum being imposed on anyone. He had gotten.. okay to decent grades during his time at Hogwarts, he idly wondered if he could improve them if he didn’t have the threat of being killed every year over his head.

‘You’ll have to sign these, I am afraid.’ Dumbledore looked saddened. ‘With these dark times, the ministry asks of a certain degree of assurance of our foreign students. These are legally magically binding contracts, stating you are not to consciously serve Grindelwald in any degree. If you fail to uphold the contract, you will lose your magic.’ Slughorn handed them the forms, Harry not bothering to read any of the legal jargon. He saw Severus scrutinize the document, and then sign it anyway. Harry signed as well, trusting Severus to be careful enough for the both of them.

‘So it’s like a written unbreakable vow?’ Harry asked, Dumbledore smiling at his words. ‘Yes, very good mister Shehu.’

Well, it wasn’t like they had any plan to serve Grindelwald to begin with. At least, signing this was probably better than having Legimency used on them.

‘How will you plan to spend your summer vacation before going to Hogwarts? There is an orphan relieve fund accessible for you to buy your Hogwarts supplies, if need be..’ Dumbledore questioned, but he was interrupted by Alexandros.

‘If you boys want, you can stay with me until Hogwarts begins!’ Alexandros tried not to sound too eager. ‘I’ll pay you for the errands you’re already running, that way you can buy your school supplies.’ Alexandros sounded pleased at his solution.

‘Wonderful!’ Dumbledore exclaimed. ‘It’s nice to see such generous and caring men.’ Dumbledore nodded to himself, effectively deciding their place of residence for them. Well.. Harry supposed some things didn’t change with time. _Just like Dumbledore had made sure he returned to the Dursleys every year._ A tiny, dark, voice added in the back of his mind.

Neither Harry nor Severus voiced disagreement with the plan. Dumbledore and Slughorn left not long after that, leaving Harry and Severus with an apologetic Alexandros.

‘I am sorry.. if you do not wish to stay here, I won’t stop you.’ Alexandros said sheepishly, a hand through his hair. ‘I know it’s odd, having this strange man offering you to stay here.’ He looked down. ‘It’s just- With all this war going on, I can’t stand the thought of two children on their own, no one to look out for them.’

To his surprise, it was Severus who answered. ‘We are grateful for all you are doing for us. I don’t know if we will ever be able to repay you, sir.’ It was the politest Harry had ever seen Severus be, and Alexandros seemed to light up at the words. Well, Harry supposed it wasn’t bad he didn’t have to use the money he had taken from his trust vault.

 

Later that night, Harry and Severus having returned to their.. room, (And Merlin, it really was, wasn’t it? He had started to call it _their_ room) Harry brought up the conversation from earlier. ‘So.. is there really a way to protect my mind?’ Harry asked, biting his lip. The thought of anyone being able to read his thoughts was disconcerting, was Severus able to read minds?

Severus sighed, and placed his borrowed book to the side. ‘It’s called occlumency, and to be honest, I am not certain whether you have the aptitude for it, Potter.’ Harry felt himself growing agitated. ‘What’s that supposed to mean.’ He growled.

Severus shook his head. ‘ _That_ , is what I mean. Occlumency is the art of protecting your mind, of being able to control your emotions and thoughts, of keeping others out of your mind. It is, in other words, the art of controlling your own mind.’

Harry looked down, vaguely ashamed. He knew he wasn’t exactly the most controlled person, he wore his heart on his sleeve, and he had always had a temper. But.. his life was at stake here. He had been lucky so far that no one had the chance to scan his mind, but how long would his luck keep up?

‘Severus.. I know the two of us don’t exactly have the best bond. But you’re the only one I can count on.. if I want a chance to succeed, I need to learn how to control my mind. Please sir, please help me.’ Harry begged, putting his pride aside. It didn’t matter how difficult it was going to be, he desperately needed to learn.

‘Very well, Potter.’ Severus drawled. ‘You are aware of the kind of teacher I am. You should know this will not be easy, you need to be okay with me entering your mind in order for you to learn how to throw someone out. It will not be pleasant, and I will see things you will not want me to see. You will need to accept this if we want any chance of these lessons being successful.’ Severus explained with a sigh, knowing the difficulty to come.

Harry.. thought about that. He would be lying if he said he was comfortable with Severus poking around in his mind. But as their animosity had mellowed the past few days, Harry had felt a semblance of trust for his professor. He felt that if he was open to learn, perhaps the professor would really teach.

Harry nodded. ‘I- I trust you.’ Harry smiled up at his professor, whose features were painted in shock for just a second, before he composed himself again. ‘Do you know how to meditate?’..

 

During their weeks at Alexandros’s, Harry slowly found himself becoming better at controlling his mind. Severus would never be a kind teacher, but Harry was desperate to learn, a fragile balance born during their lessons.

Harry was by no means a natural, but he had the determination to learn, and with some mishaps along the way, Harry had come along a long way from where he started. He was by no means a master, but as their time at Alexandros’s drew to a near, he was beginning to have at least the resemblance of decent shields.

Unsurprisingly, Alexandros and Severus had bonded over their shared love of the art of potions. The man offering to teach them more about the art. Of course, Alexandros was unaware that in fact only Harry was learning new things.

Harry didn’t quite share the love of the art, but learning new things.. well, it felt good. He liked becoming more capable, becoming more independent. Was this how Hermione had felt when she consumed book after book?

July changed to August, and with the end of August came September. Two days before the new term would start, Alexandros had bid his farewell, with a strong invitation to come back next summer. Harry and Severus had taken the international floo to Britain, a few days early to buy their supplies at Diagon Alley.

After all that time, it had felt strange to come back on British soil. He had grown used to Greece, warm sun and dry summer, of keeping an eye out for Nazis and Grindelwald’s forces in the street. In comparison to the constant wariness of Greece, the people of Diagon Alley seemed utterly unconcerned and untouched by the ongoing war.

They had roomed at Leakey Cauldron for the last few days of summer vacation, and had gone to King’s cross station from there. It had been weird walking through muggle London, unlikely Athens, where he had scarcely been during modern times, London was familiar. It felt.. wrong to see it like this. Wizards might not have been affected much, but muggles were a different story.

It had been a relieve when they had reached platform 9 ¾, the Hogwarts express timeless in it’s grandeur. But with the relieve also came dread. The moment he had been waiting for grew closer and closer- the fated moment of confrontation with his sworn enemy.

Severus and Harry had talked hours and hours, discussing plan and plan- What would kill Tom Riddle without implicating the pair of them? They had settled to observing the monster first, to see just exactly how guarded the boy was. They would get into his good graces, and when the boy would expect it the least, they’d strike. For even a teenage Voldemort who had not exactly made enemies yet, wouldn’t expect to be poisoned?

Harry wasn’t sure how he felt about pretending to make nice with a murderer, if he even could hide his disgust of Voldemort. He felt excited, elated, for his fight for survival to finally come to an end. But he was anxious, terrified to the core. He was dancing on a tight-rope, failure was no option. Taking a life, no matter who, wasn’t something one did without great hesitation.

Severus and Harry shared a wagon, warding it to prevent anyone from entering. It was the last few moment of peace- of calm before the storm, of pretending they weren’t about to do what they were. They shared it in silence, both preferring to be with their own thoughts at that time.

Dumbledore had been waiting for them at Hogsmeade station, getting a few curious looks from bystanders. Harry tied his best to not see if he could spot Voldemort in the crowd, the Tom Riddle from the diary instead of the snake faced monster of the cemetery. They’d waited for the arrival of one other person, who had also come to Hogwarts because of the war, when she arrived Dumbledore had brought them directly to the great hall, they would be sorted before the first years.

Harry tried to keep his breathing even, his heart hammering in his chest. Everything was starting to feel real. Severus looked as composed as always. Dumbledore lead them to an antechamber, Dumbledore returning when the other students would have arrived at the castle.

The silence between Harry and Severus persisted, both feeling the pressure of the soon to come. Just before Dumbledore had come back to the chamber, Harry had turned to his ex-professor, and gave him a nod.

‘Good luck.’ Harry said.

‘Good luck.’ Severus returned.

 

‘Before we start with the sorting of the first years, we will first sort the new students transferring into other years.’ Dumbledore bellowed, the hall falling silent at their professor. ‘Let’s start with.. Third year, Lena Zoetelande.’ The girl who had been waiting with them skipped to the chair Dumbledore had gestured towards. He placed the sorting hat on her head, the hat calling out Hufflepuff within a few seconds.

‘Fifth year, Hardrianus Shehu.’ Harry stalked towards the hat. During his many planning, Harry had actually not thought much about where the hat would place him. Sure, his plans would be a bit more difficult in Gryffindor, but if Severus was in Slytherin, that would more than compensate for it..

The hat was on his head, a familiar voice in head. ‘Ah, mister Potter, I see I have sorted you before? I am curious as to what you are doing in this era.’ The hat remarked. ‘You have changed from the first time I’ve seen you. If you want to reach your true potential, there is only one place for you. I think I’ll go for-’ ‘Wait, hat no-’ ‘It better be SLYTHERIN.’ The hat screamed.

Well that was.. surprising. Harry felt the dread settle in his stomach. He threw a quick glance at Severus, who looked passive to those who didn’t know him, but Harry could see the shock in his eyes. He’d be put into Voldemort’s proximity.. a lot closer than he had expected to be.

Harry swallowed, and tried to keep the fear from showing on his face, his occumency training helping. He made his way towards the Slytherin table- on the opposite side of the hall where he had been expecting to sit.

He felt someone tug his sleeve, a boy looking like Draco Malfoy’s mirror image. ‘Sit, Shehu, this is were us fifth years sit.’ Not-Draco demanded. Harry, not wanting to make enemies on his first day, complied. He glanced at the people sitting near him, his gaze finally settling on the boy who was staring at him like prey.

Harry felt himself heat suddenly, his heart beat spiking, a sudden sensation of want, of need-

Within that confusion, Harry realised the identity of the boy across from him.

Tom Riddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am never getting drunk again. Man, last night was weird.


	5. Finicky fates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit more unfocused than I'd like it to be, but I'm afraid the exposition was necessary. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy reading it! Thanks for all the comments and kudos, I'm doing my best to reply now :).

It felt like his body was burning, fire in his veins. He met the eyes of the monster that had killed his parents, perfect brown eyes widened in shock. Harry felt all rational thought leave his body, only a burning need to have those brown eyes undress him. He was flush with desire, indecent thoughts racing through his mind.

If he had been lucid enough, he would have been mortified to find out he was aroused. His forehead grew sick with sweat, and he let out a pitiful whine. He needed to- he needed- he didn’t understand what he needed, but he felt so empty. He needed to-

Touch. He wanted the other boy to touch him. Needed it more than he needed to breathe, as if he were to fall apart without. Riddle, for his part, didn’t appear to do much better. People around them had quickly moved away, Riddle growling at any in Harry’s vicinity. It was beast like, even more so than the serpent monster in the graveyard had been.

Harry scrambled across the table, his body having a mind of its own, trying to reach the other boy in front of him. He was going to die if he didn’t- touch. Riddle caught him midway, falling on top of Harry on the middle of table. Silverware clattering around them, Harry tried to grab fistfuls of Riddle, the pain and burning easing at the contact.

Riddle had plunged his lips on Harry’s, their tongues meeting feverishly. It was as if they were men starving, finally eating after having been bereaved too long. Riddle had put his arm around his waist, lying down on top of Harry. Groans of pleasure sounded through the hall, and if the two of them had been more aware, they’d been mortified of their behavior.

And then everything went black, the pair of them slipping into unconsciousness. Once one of the staff, professor Merrythought, realised what was going on, she had stalked towards the pair, and hit them with Stupefy. She made sure her spell was strong enough to make sure even a feral Alpha would be knocked out completely.

An Alpha and Omega pair, the first time one she had ever met in person.

 

Severus watched what was happening with open shock. Potter was snogging another man with abandon, on top of his house table, uncaring of who was watching. By Merlin, what was happening? First the boy, as Gryffindor as they came, had been sorted into Slytherin, and now he seemed to have lost every semblance of self-control?

One of the staff members had come down from the head table, someone Severus did not recognize, and spelled Potter and the mysterious boy unconscious. ‘Nothing to see here.’ She bellowed out, and she cast them weightless, and moved them from the great hall. She whispered something to the resident mediwitch, who gasped, her eyes widening. The mediwitch turned to headmaster Dippet, who nodded, but seemed utterly confused.

The great hall was dead silent as all eyes were on Potter and his compatriot, the silence stretching out until Merrythought had slammed the doors behind her. Next, whispers of disbelieve broke out, though Severus was too far to make out what anyone was saying.

The whispers rose in a crescendo, until Headmaster Dippet order them to quiet down. ‘We will proceed with the sorting, our dear professor Merrythought is taking care of the situation.’ Dippet wasn’t completely successful in shutting the students up, lacking in natural authority. Nonetheless, Severus was called to the head, his sorting as quick as it had been in the Seventies, when he had first attended Hogwarts.

‘ **Another time-traveller? How interesting this year is going to be. There is truly only one house for you. It better be.. SLYTHERIN** ’ Severus didn’t bother talking back to hat, this was the expected result, and he was completely satisfied with that.

He moved to the Slytherin table, when the shock of earlier had down, they belatedly made sure to clap for their new housemate. He sat down next to a boy he recognized as Abraxas Malfoy, who had gestured for him to join them.

It didn’t take long for the first years to come in next, unaware of what happened in the hall just before, their faces fresh with innocent wonder of the Hogwarts hall, like every first year before them. Severus did not pay much attention to the sorting, he wasn’t here as a professor this time, there was no need for it.

Besides, he wasn’t quite in the mood either.. What had overcome Potter? Who was the boy he was snogging with? Potter had drawn a lot of attention towards himself, and with extension Severus. People were unlikely to forget the new boy making out in the middle of the great hall. Right in front of where he was now sitting, actually. He would demand what happened later, he supposed. Potter could have cost them their only chance to rid the world of the dark lord.

For now, the best he could do was gather what the dark lord looked like. Gather information. Severus had only seen him as his distorted, monster like self. From what he had heard from Potter, who had seen the boy in the diary in his second year, and Albus.. the dark lord had been.. handsome in his youth.

As the sorting finished, Dippet finishing his speech, food appeared before them and conversation commenced. It was obvious the Slytherins wanted to discus the.. incident, but made effort to at least introduce themselves before they did.

As he had guessed, the blonde next to him was ‘Abraxas Malfoy’, the father of his old friend Lucius, and grandfather of his godson Draco. He had never actually met the man, the man perishing in Lucius’s sixth year. Lucius had never been the type to discus his homelife, so he had no idea what the man was like, especially in his youth.

The boy on the other side of him, with bright red hair and green eyes introduced himself as Flavius Avery. Ah, Severus recognized the name; a death eater part of Voldemort’s inner circle. A man with a vicious temper, from what Severus remembered.

 In front of him sat Elias Nott. Oh, Severus sure knew Nott. The black hair and blue eyes were a staple of the family, and Severus wasn’t sure to forget the delight in those eyes when he killed. Although perfectly civilized in public, Severus had seen the signs of abuse on his son Theodore. Severus had little patience for child abusers.

Finally Thane Rosier and Nathaniel Lestrange, Rosier lovely where Lestrange was handsome. The two of them were engaged in a silent conversation between the of them, drifting away from the rest of the group.

As soon as introductions were finished, conversation quickly drifted to all everyone _really_ wanted to discus. ‘So, was that your brother, Shehu?’ Malfoy asked carefully, trying not to seem as eager as he really was.

‘Yes.’ Severus answered. ‘I have never seen Riddle lose control like that..’ Avery stated, his brows furrowed in confusion. Wait.. Riddle? Surely he didn’t mean..? ‘I am sorry, who is Riddle?’ Severus enquired, trying to keep his face as neutral as he could.

‘Tom Riddle, the person your brother was.. erm, socializing with.’ Nott answered. Severus tried to keep himself from blanching, trying his best to stay neutral, to keep the bile from rising up his throat. Oh how lucky he was he was a trained occlumens.

‘Well that’s one way to put it.’ Avery scoffed.

Harry Potter, the chosen fucking one, had just been making out with the person he was destined to end. What by Merlin’s name had just come to pass? Surely he must be dreaming. This could not be real. It was to ridiculous for words, a scenario even the sickest mind could not come up with.

If Severus had been less in control of himself, he would have found himself using several inappropriate profanities. God, he needed a drink; or two for that matter. Severus knew the boy hated the dark lord with every fiber of his being, it wasn’t something that could have possibly changed in the span of two seconds.

And the dark lord at that. Jumping, at least to him, a random person? The perfectly composed Tom Riddle, or even the completely asexual entity that he had been after his resurrection, would never do something like that. If the dark lord had been interested, surely he would have been more subtle? Not.. whatever on earth the scene earlier had been.

Nothing made any bloody sense.

 

They did not find any answer to what had happened at the feast. The Hogwarts staff did their best to pretend like the incident had never happened, the students who witnessed it left in utter confusion. Merrythought and the medi-witch never returned to the dinner.

After the feast, Severus followed his new classmates to the Slytherin common room. It wouldn’t do if he were to find it on his own; he was supposed to be a new student, after all. He needed to keep his cool, he needed to do his best to not rouse any more suspicion than Potter already had.

Severus waited until Slughorn had finished his speech to the first years in the common room, the exact same speech he had gotten when he had first stepped into Hogwarts’s halls. It felt strangely nostalgic, all things considered. Who would have ever thought he would return to these halls as a student?

When Slughorn was about to leave, Severus accosted him. ‘Professor.’ He said, drawing the attention of the aging professor. ‘Ah, Mister Shehu, I trust your classmates are helping you settle in alright?’ The man asked, trying to be polite.

Severus, however, was in no mood to play along with small talk. ‘Professor, what happened to my brother? Where is he?’ Severus asked, Slughorn looked away. ‘I am afraid I do not know my boy, I am about to head down to the hospital wing to find out.’

‘Can I join you, professor?’ Severus asked, trying to sound worried instead of curious. ‘I’m not sure..’ Slughorn started, seeming to think on it. That was his opening. ‘Please professor, we are all we have left of each other, I’ve never seen Hadrianus act like that.’ Severus tried to sound sad.

‘I am sorry my boy, but since we have no idea what caused the two of them to act like that, it is probably better to proceed with caution. How about I fill you in when I return? If mister Shehu has to spend the night, we can see if you can visit him tomorrow?’ Slughorn suggested, trying to be sympathetic.

Well. It seemed that was the best he was going to get. ‘Thank you, professor.’ Severus answered.

 

That night, however, Severus did not get any information. Slughorn had returned to the common room, looking beyond stunned and tired, all he had told Severus was to not worry about his brother, that his brother would have to inform him what had happened when he was released a few days from now.

Severus, and several other Hogwarts students, tried their best to pry, hoping to get even a sliver of information. The more days stretched by, the more confused and agitated students grew. But the professors were tight lipped, not budging to give information, even to Severus, Potter’s supposed brother.

Several people tried to fake injured, hoping to catch a glimpse of the either of the pair in the hospital wing, but neither Potter nor the dark lord had been spotted during these attempts. It took four days, long after classes had started, for the dark lord and Potter to emerge to the Slytherin common room. Severus had mostly been shepherded by Abraxas during that time, making sure that Severus felt welcomed. Potter never left his thoughts during this time.

And then they returned. The dark lord looked slightly worse for wear, pale, and bags under his eyes. Potter looked miserable, withered, thinner than Severus had ever seen him. Potter seemed to avoid looking at the dark lord, grieve painting his face.

The students immediately swarmed them, buzzing around the pair to ask them what happened. Severus stayed back, knowing Potter would approach him soon enough. To his surprise, Riddle’s posse also stayed back, looking slightly afraid.

‘Enough.’ Riddle declared, his voice loud and cold. He glared at the students who had swarmed him, seemingly furious. The students immediately quieted down. Were they afraid the dark lord would curse them? Severus wondered. Knowing what he did after serving for the dark lord, he wouldn’t be surprised if the man was as violent and sadistic in his youth as he had been in his latter years.

Potter used the distraction to move away from the commotion, moving towards Severus. Up close, the boy looked even worse. Bruises framed his entire body, the boy’s body was tense, as if he were afraid of something. His eyes darted around, but he would not meet Severus’s eyes.

‘Severus.’ Potter said, hugging himself tightly. Severus quickly casted a privacy ward, and the two of them sat down on one of the silver sofas in the common room. The boy looked a second away from a panic attack. ‘What’s wrong?’ Severus asked, in Albanian for good measure, feeling oddly concerned.

‘I- I don’t think- I am not sure if I can kill him.’ Potter replied in a tiny voice, still refusing to meet Severus’s eyes. Severus tried to stay calm, he couldn’t make the mistake of upsetting Potter right now, not when he was the only person Potter could count on right now. Snarking wouldn’t do anyone good, not right now. ‘How come?’ Severus asked, his voice even.

‘Apparently.. if he dies, I die. We-We’re soulmates, Severus.’ Potter cried out, finally looking up. Potter’s eyes were filled with fear, uncertainty, begging for Severus to help him.

What?

Severus acted before he knew what he was doing, and closed his arms around the boy. It was then the boy started to cry, shock rocking through his body. It was then the boy started to explain, his words fast and panicked.

 

The days passed in a haze for Harry. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings, as he was continuously fed potions to keep his thoughts and body muddled. He was aware of a want, a pain, but everything felt dulled. He couldn’t think, not clearly, not until several days had passed. He wasn’t aware of the cries, of the begging that passed his lips, of himself uselessly struggling against his restrains.

He had been taken of the potions around four days, though Harry himself was not aware of how much time had passed. He slowly became lucid, awaking to a medi-witch standing over him. She had given him some clothes, and told him to come out of the warded chamber when he was dressed.

Slowly but surely, Harry’s mind became more clear, and he remembered what had happened. His stomach fell, horror settling in.

He had-

He had been making out with the monster who killed his parents, who killed Cedric, who had tried to kill him three times already. He had been overcome by something foreign, he couldn’t control himself. No. No. No this couldn’t be true? No. This was impossible. Harry felt the contents of his stomach coming, he quickly scanned for a bin, and puked up bile.

What nightmare had he ended up in?

He slowly got dressed, his mind reeling. He exited the chamber, seeing Merrythought, the medi-witch, and Tom Riddle already waiting there. Harry felt the horror rise again, it was too much, seeing Riddle right now..

‘Ah, mister Shehu, please sit down.’ Merrythought said, gesturing towards an empty chair next to Riddle. Harry quickly sat down, too weary to even think about protesting. ‘We apologize for keeping you incapacitated for so long.’ The medi-witch started. ‘But it was necessary, I’m afraid.’

‘What came over us, Madam?’ Riddle asked, his voice smooth like velvet. How could such a monster hide behind such a pretty visage? Harry could almost appreciate the irony. The witch sighed, and handed them both a thin book. **‘The alpha/omega phenomenon – Real life soulmates’** the cover read.

‘What came over you, was a primal need to mate.’ Merrythought said flatly, not caring for their sensibilities. ‘It is rare, exceedingly rare these days, but some magical folks are reported to having a ‘soulmate’. Someone so compatible in magic and nature, it is said lady magic created them for each other.’

Wha-What?

‘Shehu, you are an omega. Riddle, you’re an alpha. What it comes down to, it means that Shehu is submissive to Riddle’s dominant energy.’ Wait, no, what was she saying? Submissive? To fucking Voldemort?

‘Most people will not have heard of these soulmate parings. It is possible to get to one soulmate by using the other soulmate. For if one of the pair dies, the other will soon follow, the two of them unable to live without each other. As you can understand, most people would prefer to keep this information to themselves. Because of this, information is often obscure, and hard to come by. The only information written out on the subject is in the book you were just given.’ Merrythought continued, unaware of both boys paling at this news, though for entirely different reasons.

‘When the two of you met eyes.. Shehu entered a heat like state, consumed with the need to be.. well, I’m sure you experienced it yourself. Riddle mirrored this with a ‘rut’, something that comes companion to seeing his fated omega in heat.’ The medi-witch added, having read up on the subject after Merrythought had explained what was happening.

‘Obviously, I stopped you from mating right on top of the Slytherin table.’ Merrythought snorted. ‘Besides, with the both of you being fifteen, mating right now could potentially be dangerous on Shehu. Most soulmate parings do not meet their intended after reaching adulthood, his body is not fully prepared yet for mating during a heat. We had to stop you from mating, especially because an alpha in rut is without control.’ Merrythought finished, looking sympathetic.

‘You will likely fall into heat again after four months, mister Shehu, as omega’s tend to fall into a cycle after their first heat. It would be prudent for both of you to spend as much time as possible together before that, as separation is incredibly hard on unmated partners.’ The medi-witch explained.

‘I suggest you read the book we gave you, I want the two of you to come by my wing tomorrow, so we can do some check ups. Professor Merrythought is looking into some resources to help you with these development in your lives. For now, the two of you should return to your dorms, to try and get some rest.’

The words rushed past Harry’s head, no longer being able to process what was happening. He was ushered outside of the hospital wing, wordlessly following along Riddle. Riddle, for his part, seemed lost in thought, just as unwilling to speak to Harry as Harry was to speak to him.

How could he have thought he would ever catch a break?

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Classes start for me tomorrow, so I went shopping with some friends to celebrate the new school year. I bought this really cute Slytherin blanket. 
> 
> I expect the next update to around Friday? Maybe Saturday. I've got this class called 'Law and business', and it's killing me already.


	6. Murky waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess I updated earlier than planned again, oops. This chapter contains a lot of angst, more than planned, really.

Severus held Harry for a long time, long after Harry had finished explaining what had happened. He cried the sorrow of the past few days out of system, leaving only a dulled ache. They were uncaring of the fact that they were still in the Slytherin common room, attention unlikely to fall on them because of the privacy charms.

‘We’ll figure this out.’ Severus promised, though he wasn’t completely assured himself. Alpha? Omega? Severus had never come across those terms in his studies, ever. It seemed out of this world, and he wondered how the Potter boy could have luck that rotten. He was going to be there for Lily’s boy, he promised himself.

During the occlumency sessions, Severus had seen the boy had lead a much less spoiled life he would have ever assumed. The boy had been utterly embarrassed when Severus saw the memories of his family life, almost costing them the tentative trust they had been building up. Severus had to admit he had been.. wrong about the boy. It was hard to reconcile the facts with the image he had built up in his head. He had behaved as utter scum to Potter, to all of his students. He told himself it was to protect the boy, to keep people at a distance for when the dark lord returned and he would have to return to spying. But that was a lie, wasn’t it? He had acted like that out of spite, out of hatred of his past, a sense of entitlement. But he had to do better.

He would do better.

And so he continued to hold Harry, running circles across his back with his hand. It was foreign to him, comforting someone. Harry didn’t seem to mind, didn’t even seem to care that the comfort came from Severus. He had stopped crying a while ago, his breathing more calm, his eyes closed, but still leaning against Severus. Harry was finally starting to calm down a little.

Until Riddle came and ruined it.

‘Shehu.’ Riddle’s voice was devoid from the rage of earlier, looking at Harry and Severus with a disapproving expression. Harry tensed in his hold, but didn’t look up. Severus gave Riddle a pointed look, and had to refrain from glaring at the future dark lord.

‘Shehu, I suppose this development isn’t something you are too happy with either. However, this will be easier on the both of us if we cooperate for now. Perhaps we can find a way to get rid of this.. connection.’ Riddle remarked, sounding utterly disgusted when he said ‘connection’. Merlin, even in his youth the dark lord had been a dick. Why had he ever joined the death eaters to begin with?

Harry looked up then, staring Tom Riddle head on in his eyes. ‘Alright then, Riddle. Let’s get rid of this.’ Harry said, his tone speaking of deadly determination. Riddle, for his part, looked put off, surprised by the easy agreeance the boy had fell into. Riddle quickly composed himself.

‘Very well. I expect you to have read the book Merrythought gave us by tomorrow, I expect you to do your part.’ With those words, Riddle turned his back on them, leaving behind an incredulous Harry and Severus.

‘Did he just- give me an order?’ Harry asked, frowning. ‘Yes.’ Severus answered, although the question had been rhetorical. ‘What a fucking git.’ Harry said, sounding utterly baffled. ‘Yes.’ Severus agreed, shaking his head.

‘He is correct that it would be prudent to read it soon, however. You wouldn’t want someone to take advantage of your ignorance.’ Severus said, carefully gaging Harry at his reaction. To his surprise, Harry didn’t blow up, but simply sighed.

‘I guess you’re right.. But right now, all I want to do is sleep. Can you show me to the dorm?’ Harry asked, utterly exhausted. He had no idea what would happen in the future, but he had too little energy to think about everything right now. Perhaps if he slept, he would find out all of this had been a bad dream.

Perhaps he’d wake up in the cheap muggle hotel he’d been staying at, before he had decided to travel to Greece. Dumbledore would find him, and stop him before he could make the foolish decision to go back in time.

Perhaps he’d wake up in the cupboard, eleven years old again, the entire wizarding world having been a big dream. With the way his life had been going, it did not sound as terrible as it would have months earlier.

But he would never be that lucky, would he?

 

Harry awoke early the next morning. He didn’t feel rested at all, his mouth dry, a pounding headache in the back of his scull. It was as though he had drank the entire contents of a bottle of fire whiskey, and he was currently facing the after effects. He felt a pang in his heart as he remembered the time the upperclassmen had fed him drunk after a quidditch victory. It all seemed so far away now.

Most of the other curtains around the other beds were drawn, the room in darkness. Harry casted a quick tempus, revealing the time to be 6 o’clock. He took in the room, noting the familiarities and dissimilarities to the Gryffindor dorms. The lay out was mostly the same, though the room was a rectangle, where the Gryffindor dorm had been round. The window had sight on the great lake, the water black and murky. He already missed the night sky Gryffindor tower had to offer.

The colours were different as well, obviously. Greens and silvers where yellow and reds would have been. It felt.. wrong.

Well. This was the fate he had chosen for himself. He’d be damned before he would give up. It was a cruel joke, being soulmates with the man who had been trying to kill him from the moment he had been born. But after all he had done to come here, he wouldn’t let that stop him.

Truth be told, Harry did not want to die. The thought had crossed his mind, killing himself to spare the world from Riddle. He wasn’t sure if e could do that.. As much as he had been prone to throwing himself into danger to save his friends, or save Hogwarts, Harry didn’t think he could plan out his own death. Spur of the moment decisions, his body moving on pure adrenaline before the fear could catch up, yes. To carefully plan it out, to ensure both he and Riddle would die. No- He felt paralyzed at the thought.

Was he a bad person, to not want to die? Perhaps he was.. God, he was such a hypocrite. He’d kill Riddle, but he didn’t have the guts to take his own life. Well, if he was too much of a coward, perhaps there were other ways to dispose of Riddle if the bond couldn’t be severed..

Lost in his unhealthy thoughts, Harry went to the showers to clean the filth of the past few days off him. When he returned, one of the curtains around the bed had been drawn, Tom Riddle sitting at the edge of his bed.

Their eyes met, Riddle looking just as poor as Harry had felt when he first woke up. Riddle nodded at him, Harry forced himself to return the gesture. It was hard, still having to pretend to play nice, but he couldn’t give up all their plans because of this little.. setback.

Harry set out the common room, grabbing the omega book with him. He refused to look at Riddle as he exited the room. The common room was completely empty upon his arrival, the silence being somewhat disquieting.

He sat down on one of the sofa’s near the fireplace, and started reading the book. So far, the information wasn’t particularly helpful. It was not detailed in the slightest, no first hand accounts. It described several meetings of supposed soulmates, accounts that the author had gathered.

**When the pair would first meet, in all accounts they were immediately drawn each other. All control was lost, and several pairs have been described as to mating in public; no matter how caring of decency they had been before.**

That stood out to Harry. It had not been his first encounter with Voldemort, far from in fact. How had this.. not triggered any of the other times they had met? He supposed he could understand why the diary couldn’t trigger anything, being a memory. But what about in the graveyard, or even his first year, or-

Yeah, okay, he’d rather not go there.

Were there circumstances where the frenzy would not occur? So far, the book had not described any. He continued reading, the book moving on to first meeting to the technicalities of a heat.

**After the initial mating, the heat/rut haze is apparently supposed to die for a few moments, allowing for the pair to move to a safer location; until the cycle starts up again. Even in subsequent heats, it is said a similar pattern emerges; after both partners have been sated, a few moments of clarity exist before the need returns. The cycle is said to last for about four days, occurring every four months.**

It was disturbing to read, especially when he thought about him and Riddle being in such a position, but he forced himself to go on. For describing such an intimate situation, the book was oddly devoid of detail. It appeared the book could only be of limited use.

He would have thought this was some elaborate prank, if not for the fact that he had experienced the need for himself. It was disturbing beyond measure, the lack of information making him feel even worse. How the fuck could he have never heard of something like this?

A tap on his shoulders broke his emergence. Severus was standing behind him, tapping his feet impatiently. ‘I’ve been calling out to you for a few moments already, Hadrianus.’ It still felt weird, hearing Severus call him anything other than _Potter_ sneeringly.

‘I was reading, Severus. Educating myself, I thought you of all people would be proud!’ Harry joked. Severus handed him a piece of paper. ‘Your schedule. Slughorn gave it to me for you.’ Harry looked it over, feeling sheepish. He had almost forgot that he was here for studying as well, not just murder plots.

 

Tom felt disturbed. The loss of control had been unprecedented, it frightened him. He did not want to believe anyone else had even the slightest of effect on his actions, not being in control had been.. appalling. He hated Shehu for it; for making him lose even the slightest amount of control. It reminded him of his early days at the orphanage..

He balled a fist, looking down at it. And then the boy had been so dismissive of him, of _him?!_ How dare the pitiful boy think he was above Tom. Just like those in Slytherin house had, when he had first came to Hogwarts. But oh, how they had learned.

And if Shehu had any semblance of a brain in his mind, so would he. He would make sure the boy knew that Tom was above him. Perhaps he could mold the boy into becoming loyal to him? Like the rest of Slytherin house? Apparently, he already had the predisposition. Maybe he’d even recruit the boy to his followers, once he would start to amess them.

He would revolutionize the wizarding world, his entire being told him he was destined for greatness; no cost being to high for him to achieve that greatness.

For now, however, he would need to focus on making sure Shehu could have no pull on him. He needed to annul their horrid connection. He would try Hogwarts library first, though he doubted he would find information there.  Perhaps the Malfoys had more information in their fast library, he would need to ask Abraxas if the boy could search their family library. He considered Nott, but he didn’t trust the boy to use it against him. Abraxas was utterly devoted to him, Nott.. Well, he was in Slytherin for a reason.

 

Tom got dressed fairly quickly, admiring the prefect badge on his uniform. It had no surprise he had been chosen, but it had still been nice to get the conformation. His image was primly perfect, no hair out of place.

Apart from the bags under his eyes, his face paler than normal, looking utterly exhausted. His visage angered him. He knew it was irrational, but seeing the marks of his loss of control marring his body was infuriating. He bit his cheek, trying to contain his anger, and turned away from the mirror, making his way to the common room.

Ah, of course Shehu was there. The boy was laughing with his brother, though at would be more accurate. The brother was sneering, as though it was a common thing for him to do so. From how morose the boy had looked earlier, it was quite the scene. He felt anger brew beneath his skin.

He wanted to go there and break them apart- Merlin, was he jealous? No, that could not be. He was jealous of others because of their status, of their power or wealth, not because of some vapid boy. No, he was just annoyed that Shehu dared to be happy in these circumstances.

He pointedly stalked away, yes, the sooner this connection was void the better.

 

And so, Harry’s day passed by in a flurry. He had seen little of Tom Riddle during the day, even during mealtimes, where Riddle had been oddly absent. When Severus had asked about it, the Avery guy told them Riddle was probably in the library.

Classes, were nice, a sense of familiarity. It seemed the Hogwarts curriculum had not changed much across the year. Harry took most of the classes he had been planning to take in the future as well, though Severus had strongly advised him to drop divination for ancient runes. During the summer vacation, both Severus and Alexandros had taught him up to speed.

His first time experiencing the class at Hogwarts had been surprisingly nice. He had never thought he would have enjoyed the subject, but he seemed to have a knack for it. It was oddly comfortable, working together with Severus, it was amusing seeing the man on the side of the students he used to torment. Riddle took the class as well, though it had been easy to ignore him when the man sat on the other side of the classroom.

His first afternoon class had been care of magical creatures, one he did not sure with either Severus or Riddle. Instead, he had worked together with the Malfoy look alike, who turned out to be in fact a Malfoy; and two Slytherin boys called Lestrange and Rosier.

They had been very polite towards him, not asking about what had happened four days ago. Perhaps Riddle had told them, Harry didn’t know, but he was grateful none the less. It was not what he had expected from Slytherin, used to the sneers he would receive in the halls back in the future.

Abraxas Malfoy was much more courteous than Draco had ever been, mild-mannered and kind. He, and the other two Slytherin patiently tried to get him up to speed for their assignment. This semester, they were to take care of magical ravens, apparently a lot more intelligent than normal ravens.

He had joined Severus for Potions for his last class of the day. Slughorn had been a much better teacher than Severus had been, though Harry did exactly like the man. There was something very overeager about the man, his always seemingly trying to find ways to turn around a situation in his favour.

The quintessential Slytherin.

After class, Slughorn had asked Riddle and Harry to stay behind, the first time Harry had to properly face Riddle all day. Riddle looked annoyed at being held back, but did not voice any complaint. As soon as Slughorn had turned to speak to them, his expression had morphed into something perfectly polite. What a wanker, Merlin.

‘We haven’t yet had the opportunity to discus what happened yet.’ Slughorn said, sitting down on one of the desks. ‘As both of you are orphans, as your head of house, I am somewhat of a guardian to you.’ Tom nodded at this, Harry frowned. ‘We have decided to keep the news of your status of your news to a minimum, you’re free to inform anyone you want to yourselves, of course. It would be better if you’re careful with who you tell, however, as you both understand this is very sensitive information.’ Slughorn advised.

‘Of course, professor.’ Riddle said, his voice pleasant. ‘As of now, headmaster Dippet, professor Merrythought, professor Dumbledore and madame Ruth are in the known of your situation.’

‘Professor Dumbledore, sir?’ Riddle asked, an edge to his voice. Harry’s scar flared as the anger rose in Riddle’s voice. ‘Ouch, fuck.’ Harry cursed, Slughorn drawing an eyebrow. ‘Are you alright, mister Shehu?’ Harry nursed his scar. ‘Yes, sorry.’ He mumbled.

‘Ah where were we?’ Slughorn wondered. ‘Professor Dumbledore, sir.’ Riddle supplied. ‘Ah yes. I know you and professor Dumbledore don’t exactly see eye to eye, but as deputy headmaster, it is wise for him to be informed.’

Riddle scowled, though he quickly covered his annoyance.

‘I’ll take you to see Madame Ruth now, she wanted to see you before dinner.’ Slughorn stood up, leading Riddle and Harry out of the classroom.

 

The walk to the hospital-wing had been horrible, with Slughorn and Riddle trading polite banter. Harry had to appetite to act along, it was sickening to see how well Riddle had Slughorn wrapped around his little finger. They were all so.. blind. How would Slughorn react if he knew the horrors his darling student was to inflict upon the wizarding world in the future?

It also made Harry wonder, had he not known what Riddle would become, would he also have been as enthralled?

 

Madame Ruth fretted over them as soon as they entered the hospital wing, forcing them to drink a pepper-up potion, and giving them both a nutrition potion. Things didn’t start going downhill, until the medi-witch demanded to do an examination spell on both of them.

‘Is this really necessary, madame? I am fine, really. These potions are more than enough.’ Harry panicked. No, no, this could not be happening.

‘We always check our students when they first arrive at Hogwarts, mister Shehu, you will not be an exception. Especially not when you just went through a taxing heat!’ The nurse chided, giving Harry a stern look. He had almost told her that he had received no such check up when _he_ went to Hogwarts.

Before he could react, the witch had cast the spell on him, her eyes growing wide in shock. The results of the spell had morphed onto a paper on her little clipboard. ‘Th-This can’t be correct.’ She gasped. ‘Horace, come here.’

Slughorn looked over the results, quiet shock settling over his features. ‘Tom, I think it would be best if you head to dinner for now.’ He said, effectively dismissing Riddle. Riddle looked curious to know the results, but thankfully did not pry.

‘Signs of childhood malnutrition, incorrectly healed bones, multiple burn wounds over a period of time.. Mister Shehu, this paints a very worrying picture..’ Slughorn’s expression was grave, and Harry felt the anger swell up in him.

‘You have no right, you had no right to cast that spell on me.’ Harry growled. ‘I clearly expressed that you were not allowed to! My home situation is no one’s business but my own, I do not _need_ your concern.’ How dare they? How dare they pity him _now_?

Where had they been during primary school, where he’d beg and beg for anyone to believe him. Where had they been when he had first gone to Hogwarts, begging Dumbledore to not return him to the Dursleys.

‘Mister Shehu, I-’ Harry didn’t bother to finish listening, he stormed out of the hospital-wing. Riddle was waiting for him there, a knowing expression on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I didn't plan on updating today, but I really didn't have the energy to go to the student association event I was planning to go to. Administrative law really sucks the soul out of someone, my only cure was writing this angsty chapter. Oh well.


	7. Muddled mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so like Tom and Harry barely interact this chapter, but they're going to have some significant scenes next chapter. Nice.
> 
> This is a fairly slow paced chapter, as it is very much focused on feelings and thoughts.

Abuse.

It wasn’t something that sat well with Tom, images of the days in the orphanage springing up in front of his eyes every time he closed them. The cruel laughter of the older children, and the callous indifference of the matron. Being sent back to that horrid, horrid place, knowing a bomb could drop on him at every second. It haunted him more than he could ever admit, ever wanted to admit.

It seemed Shehu and he shared more similarities than he cared for. For once, he didn’t feel like manipulating the situation, of riling up the boy to see what would happen. For once, he felt, ah well, a mild kinship to someone.

Tom had cast an eavesdropping spell, hoping to gather some dirt on the other boy. What he heard instead, nearly made him rage. How utterly unprofessional they had been in their interrogation of Shehu. When confronted like that, of course the boy would clam shut. If they really wanted to help, they should have been more subtle. Merlin, how stupid the staff could be at times.

So when Shehu stormed out of the hospital-wing, his face flush with anger, tears at the corner of his eyes, Tom did nothing. He didn’t pretend to be sympathetic, and he didn’t say anything cruel either. ‘I’ll take you to the great hall.’ Tom said in a calm voice, not waiting to see if Shehu would follow him.

Shehu did end up following him. Walking next to him, though a considerable distance between them. Their footsteps echoed through the empty halls, the only sounds resounding. They kept quiet, Tom wasn’t the sort of person to offer comfort, and he doubted Shehu even wanted it. It was pleasant, almost. More pleasant than their previous encounters had been, at least.

They had reached the great hall far too soon for Tom’s liking, though Tom would never admit that to himself. Dinner was already in full swing, Shehu sitting down next to his brother, Tom sitting down next to Elias Nott a few seats away.

‘What did Slughorn want?’ Nott asked, a glint in his eye. Tom could see Malfoy and Avery were listening now as well, though they tried to be subtle. Oh, how his pawns were too curious for their own good.

‘It wasn’t important.’ Tom answered, not about to volunteer any information to Nott. This was Slytherin, after all, and Tom had the good sense to not give away any weakness unless he absolutely had to. That reminded him..

‘Malfoy, I need some books from your family library, would that be alright?’ He asked politely, knowing asking worked a lot better for Malfoy than demanding. Malfoy had impeccable manners, but he asked for the same of others; the boy could not stand rudeness.

‘Of course, Riddle. What do you need? I’ll owl father for it as soon as possible.’ Malfoy smiled kindly. ‘We’ll discus it after dinner?’ Tom suggested, he wasn’t about to reveal what he needed from Malfoy in the middle of dinner. He barely trusted Malfoy enough to let the other boy get him the information.

Dinner continued with pleasant conversation, with Tom occasionally glancing to see how Shehu was doing. It seemed the boy had calmed down, and was engaged in conversation with his brother, Rosier, and Lestrange. Tom could not catch what they were saying from where he was sitting, but it was odd looking at the interaction. Dynamics were changing with the arrival of the Shehu brothers, conversation in his group not centered around himself. He did not like it.

 

Harry hadn’t told Severus about what happened in the hospital wing. He knew he should, for if it was suspected Harry had been abused, surely they would think his brother might have been abused as well? It seemed Hogwarts was different in this time than it had been in his own, and that the teachers might actually try and address it this time. What a headache.

Yet still, Harry could not spill what had happened. His mouth growing dry every time he tried. He was aware that Severus had been aware that his circumstances with the Dursleys were less than.. ideal, but he did not actually want to say it out loud. To acknowledge that he had been in fact abused, to say it out loud, for someone else to actually hear him say it.. it made things more real than Harry was really ready for.

He was aware Riddle had heard the conversation in the hospital wing, it was the only reason why the boy could have had such a knowing look in his eye. Riddle had been oddly gentle with him, the silence was something Harry was very grateful for.

The boy could have pressed him, manipulated him, or even tried his fake persona on Harry, but he had been oddly understanding. To get that sort of thing from his arch enemy, what a fucked up thing his life had become.

After dinner, Harry and Severus had gone down to the library to finish their homework. It was odd.. being this serious about his education, but the constant of studying felt anchoring to him. Preparing for a future, it was a comforting thought. Something he rarely had had time for in the future.

Severus, already having completed his education a long time ago, had no trouble getting through the coursework, and decided to scourge the library for any information on the connection between Harry and Riddle. Harry diligently worked on his course work, things going smoother without Ron being around to distract him.

Growing oddly comfortable with the professor’s presence in his life, Harry would occasionally ask Severus a question when he didn’t understand something. Unlike in the old days, Severus would actually take the effort to explain it to him.

Halfway through the night, Harry noticed a Hufflepuff girl continuously glancing at him, as if she were trying to discern him. Any time Harry caught her looking, she would look away pretending as if she had never even been looking in the first place. It was odd, but Harry had different things to worry about. She was probably just curious to what happened at the start of term, she wasn’t the first person Harry had caught looking. She was the first to look for so long, though.

He had mentioned it to Severus though, who had raised a brow, and subtly glanced at the girl. He had recognized her. ‘That’s that girl that was sorted with us.’ He remembered. ‘I do not recall her name, though.’ Oh well.

 

The next day, Harry once again woke up feeling like shit, this time even worse than before. Though the signs of his heat were fading away, he still looked worse for wear. He felt agitated, like he could snap at the slightest provocation. He was glad he was improving at occlumency, slowly getting better at controlling his emotions as well.

He had awoken early again, so he decided to continue reading the soulmate book. He continued were he left off, soon reaching the topic of mutually assured death.

**In all instances known of an alpha and omega paring, if one halve will perish, so will the other soon after. Little is known as to why this phenomenon occurs, though it is speculated that the loss of the connection is like losing part of oneself. One witness account describes having seen the widower of a pair soon fall into depression at the death of his partner, his body withering away with his mind.**

Well, this was one of the more detailed accounts he had read in the book, though it was speculation still. Was there truly this little information on alpha’s and omega’s? Was there nowhere he could get any answers. It felt like the search of Flamel all over again, though much more was in danger.

His heart panged at the thought of Ron and Hermione. He still didn’t know why they didn’t send him any letters, why they had ignored him before he had jumped times. It soured their memory.. He missed them dearly, yet at the same time, he felt angry.

He wondered how they would react to him being in Slytherin now, on good terms with professor Snape. He doubted Ron would believe it, even if he himself were around to witness it. He was glad they weren’t around to see the mess with Voldemort, though he’d kill for one of Hermione’s hugs, or Ron’s humor.

He continued reading until Severus once again tapped him on his shoulder, the two of them heading up for breakfast. They had just been about to leave, when an owl swooped down in front of them, delivering a package addressed to the them both. The owl looked exhausted, Harry feeding it some breakfast in sympathy. The little beast reminded him of Hedwig.

He did not regret not talking Hedwig with him to the past, he knew it was better this way. He had let her go free when he left the Dursleys, instructing her to go to Hermione or Ron a week from then. He couldn’t let her get harmed whilst he was facing Voldemort. He had been planning to go to the past completely alone, after all.

Severus opened the letter, him and Harry reading it together. The letter was in Greek, with the neat scrawl Harry recognized to be Alexandros’s.

**02/09/42:’’**

**Dear Severus and Hadrianus,**

**I hope you arrived at Hogwarts well, by the time this letter arrives, it will likely be the seventh of September. How were your first days of class? What house did you get sorted in? Are you adjusting well to Scotland, after having experienced the glorious Greek weather?**

**I must say, it is lonely not having you two around. Also a lot less productive! Now I have to deliver these orders myself! I hope you do not find this weird, but I’ve included a potions publication with this letter for you, Severus. I know you have an interest in the subject, and I think you might have some real potential!**

**As for you Hadrianus, I noticed you reading a book about Chronos and Caerus, so I’ve included this book modern worship of the gods, perhaps you’ll find it to be enjoyable? It’s wonderful seeing the youth have an interest in the gods.**

**Things in Greece have been tense on the muggle side, several resistances have been fighting against those Nazi scum. I know English wizards are not too concerned about the Nazis are doing, hell, they’re barely concerned about Grindelwald, it pisses me off. Still though, at least you’re safe there in Scotland for now. I press my heart with the hope you will both stay on your guard nonetheless.**

**Feel free to send me a letter back, I would love for us to keep corresponding as I’ve come to care for you both a lot. You can send a letter back with Democracy, my owl, she’ll likely want to rest up a bit after arrival though.**

**Best regards,**

**Alexandros Demos**

It lifted his mood, receiving a letter from Alexandros. Why the man cared so much for them, Harry would never understand, but the many truly was as kind hearted as someone could get. No doubt the man was hoping they’d return next summer, though that wasn’t exactly necessary for Harry and Severus.

He did still have the gold he took from his vaults in future, after all. When he had gone to Gringotts, the Goblin’s head recommended a knapsack spelled bottomless to him. He’d be able to store all his gold in there, including all his other items. It had been really convenient, though Harry did not comprehend why the Goblin’s would help him when he was effectively stopping his business with them.

Still though, he wound not mind working for Alexandros again, and it would be nice if he could keep his use of the future gold to a minimum. Severus had rightfully pointed out that bringing the gold in circulation might be problematic, when Harry had told Severus about the gold. It was decided they should only use the gold in emergencies.

‘Let’s write him back tonight.’ Harry suggested, Severus nodding absently mindedly. The man was engrossed in the academic potion publication. What a nerd, Harry thought fondly. ‘What’s that?’ Rosier asked, sitting across from Harry and Severus, pointing to the book Harry had received.

‘Oh, it’s on Greek gods.’ Harry explained, Rosier perking up. ‘Oh you’re a worshipper?’ Rosier asked, whilst the group left the table to go to their Transfiguration class. ‘I suppose.’ Harry answered. He had seen several gods for real, after all, he certainly did not deny their existence. Rosier fell next to him, the first time Harry had not seen him next to Lestrange. Lestrange was walking with Severus, who still had his nose in the publication.

‘I worship the Norse gods!’ Rosier exclaimed with an excited smile. ‘My mother is originally from Iceland, wizards often worship the Norse gods there.. Here in the isles, most pureblood are pagans, sure, but they do not care for the gods at all.’ Rosier pouted. ‘And not to speak of the _muggleborns_ , most of them are _Christian_ here!’ The boy sounded disgusted at even saying the word ‘Christian’ and ‘muggleborn’ and Harry had to stop himself from getting mad.

At least Rosier had not called them mudbloods, though it was obvious the prejudice ran deep. It was a cold reminder for Harry, it did not matter how civilized these people seemed, they still thought muggles and muggleborns weren’t human. Harry felt his mood drop considerably. He felt dirty, all of a sudden, his expression darkening. Rosier did not seem to notice, going on about how he paid a sacrifice to Loki whenever he could. Perhaps he could change their minds? He did not want to believe that Slytherins were beyond saving.

With renewed vigour, Harry entered the Transfiguration classroom. It would be a slow process, and he would have to be more subtle than he had ever been as a Gryffindor, but he would revolutionize their thinking. He’d make them see beyond the propaganda they had grown up with. He knew most of them had been death eaters in his time, if they had been still alive, and Harry knew he should be more disturbed by that, but interacting with them, Harry knew there was still hope.

Even if he took down Riddle, there was still the society in which Voldemort had been able to rise. If he really wanted the future to improve, he would need to find a way to improve society itself. Harry doubted he could do that, he was never a visionary or a politician, but he could at least influence the people around him to be more open-minded.

He would do Hermione, and all the other muggleborns he had met wrong otherwise.

His mood dampened once again, though, as class got underway. He had never had Dumbledore as a professor during the future, so to say he was shocked with how the man was acting was an understatement.

He favored Gryffindor so blatantly, like Severus had with Slytherin in the future. Dumbledore was more subtle however, not taking away points from Slytherin, just not giving them any, even for a correct answer; whilst rewarding Gryffindor for the slightest thing.

He seemed to really dislike Riddle as well, though Harry could not blame him for that. He was constantly frowning at Riddle, being particularly harsh on the boy during the class.

Had Dumbledore been like that in the future as well? Harry supposed- yes, yes he had. Like when the man had basically given Gryffindor the house cup at the end of first year. He hadn’t minded the favoritism then, but now that he was on the other side of things, Harry felt a lot more uncomfortable with how things had played out.

And then he had felt someone probe at his mind. He had looked Dumbledore in the eyes, for just a second, by accident, and he was certain the man was trying to get past his shields. Harry looked away immediately. In Albanian, he vigorously scribbled Severus a note.

**Dumbledore just tried to get into my mind!**

Harry had to stop himself from blowing up right in front of everyone. Severus had warned him of the possibility, of course, but to actually feel the headmaster try it was a different thing altogether. Dumbledore had no right to use legilimency on him.

Severus slid another note, in Albanian as well, in front of him. **Did he manage to get past your shields?** Harry shook his head, not wanting to risk giving another note. He did not want Dumbledore to confiscate it.

The class passed at a snail’s pace, but Harry raced out of the classroom as soon as he could. God, how infuriated he felt today. He was just constantly trying to keep his anger in check, and Harry felt himself grow more frustrated by the second. He was being very unsteady today, his mood fluctuating by the moment.

Harry had been starting to feel somewhat more calm during Herbology, where he worked together with Malfoy and Severus. It meant Severus and him couldn’t discus what happened with Dumbledore, but the distraction Malfoy proved was at least pleasant.

At the end of the class, however, Severus and Harry had been summoned by Slughorn, with the request to come to his office immediately. Harry felt his stomach drop, what was this about? Did Slughorn want to discus what happened with Madame Ruth yesterday, or was something even worse going on?

Had their lie been compromised? Had Slughorn found out they were from the future? Had Dumbledore managed to get passed his shields after all? Worriedly, Harry made his way towards Slughorn. Even if it was only about the abuse, he had not told Severus about what happened..

When he saw Madame Ruth waiting in Slughorn’s office, Harry felt relieve washing over him. Good, if the nurse was here, then it could only be about the abuse. At least their identity had not been revealed. Severus, however, did not share the same relieve, he seemed only confused.

‘Why were we summoned, professor?’ Severus asked bluntly, though not impolite. ‘Please sit down.’ Slughorn said kindly, gesturing towards two blue chairs on the opposite side of his desk. ‘When we did a mandatory check up on Hadrianus yesterday, we found some very worrying signs, my boy.’

Snape frowned, sending Harry a look which obviously read: Why did you not tell me about this? Harry swallowed, feeling nervous. Fuck, he did not want to be here. Although it was better than the alternatives, Harry did not want to deal with this right now.

‘We think Hadrianus might have had an abusive homelife, and as you are brothers, we’re going to have to check up on you as well.’ Madame Ruth explained, Harry’s eyes widening. Snape was even more concerned with his privacy about his homelife than Harry was.

‘I think not.’ Severus sneered, looking ready to cast the medi-witch and Slughorn into oblivion.

The medi-witch once again casted the spell before anyone could react. ‘Much of the same symptoms..’ She muttered, Harry gasping in shock. Did that mean.. no way.

Severus had been abused as well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to make a twitter. Do you youngsters still use twitter? @ParagonIve if anyone wants to follow.


	8. Right to privacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Harry interact this chapter. Hell yeah. Also I know J.K Rowling has said that no wizarding universities exist, I have dismissed that claim.

Severus’s scowl deepened, he stood up in anger, and sneered, his voice deadly low. ‘That was a gross, gross violation of my privacy, and I _will_ be looking to press charges.’ He grabbed Harry by his sleeve, dragging him out of the room with him. Slughorn and Ruth spluttered behind them, but Severus marched out without a second look. ‘Did they force this spell on you yesterday?’ Severus asked, calming down a little as he strengthened his occlumency shields.

‘Yes..’ Harry started, looking down to the floor, biting his lip. ‘I wanted to warn you about.. what they found out, but..’ The words died off in his tongue, Severus managing to catch his drift anyway. Severus could understand that Harry had felt embarrassed by the abuse, and acknowledging it might be too far away for the boy in his healing process. A little warning would have been appreciated, but he understood the boy too much to be truly upset with him.

‘No doubt they suspected a similar situation with me.. Well, that explains the sudden examination, at least.’ Severus shook his head, his rage dying away to be instead replaced with bafflement. ‘How utterly unprofessional. Neither of us even got the chance to offer our consent to such a spell.’ The two of them walked towards the Slytherin common room, no point in going to their last class of the day all worked up like this.

‘I’m sorry for not warning you..’ Harry offered, feeling guilty still. He didn’t know what to think of the revelation that his previously most hated professor had such a similar childhood. It did explain some things about why the professor had become the man he was, Harry supposed.

‘No, you do not have to apologize for that, Hadrianus. It is, however, important that we report these forced examinations. It’s a gross violation of our privacy, and who is to say other students will not receive the same treatment?’

‘Who is to say the adults will actually do anything about it?’ Harry spat bitterly. When, in his time at Hogwarts had an adult actually proven to be reliable? He was always the one to save the school, to save Sirius, to get himself out of a pinch..

‘I know you Gryffindor’s have the bad habit to shouldering the entire world on your shoulders, but now that you’re in Slytherin, you have this little thing called resources.’ Severus snarked good naturedly.

Harry snorted. ‘Fine, how would a Slytherin handle it, then?’

Severus smirked. ‘It’s all about knowing when and to whom you should release certain information. Make the cogs move on their on volition..’ Severus explained, adoring the game being in Slytherin house offered. It was a lot less impressive than Severus had made it sound, however.

 

During dinner, they had sat within Abraxas Malfoy’s earshot. The young Malfoy had a father on the education board, came from a family of law-educated lords, and had a passion for the law himself. Severus waited carefully for the right moment to bring up the subject.

Thankfully, Malfoy himself brought it up. ‘What did Slughorn summon you for? You two didn’t return to class afterwards.’

‘We were summoned for a medical examination.’ Harry said quietly, playing his role like Severus had instructed him.

Severus pretended to scowl. ‘She casted a full body examination spell on us, without our consent.’ Severus muttered, but making sure it was loud enough for Malfoy to hear the complaint. Malfoy, in turn, dropped his cutlery in shock.

‘She did what?’ He gasped, thinking about relevant pieces of jurisprudence, trying to discern the legality of the situation. ‘That is beyond unprofessional. Do you want me to contact my father, he a member of the education board.’ Malfoy explained, sounding utterly offended by the notion that they had been forced into an examination when there was no apparent need.

‘If their guardian agreed to the examination, there is no need for their own consent.’ A velvet voice spoke up a few seats away from them, it was Riddle a hint of bitterness in his expression.

Their guardian? God, hadn’t Slughorn called himself their guardian? Fuck, that meant that Ruth had been within legal limits then. Harry shared a look with Severus, who had apparently reached the same conclusion.

‘I will write father anyway.’ Malfoy quickly explained. ‘If you can get your guardian to express they did not consent, we will likely be able to make a stronger case.’ Malfoy seemed to be fired up, ready to bolt from dinner to look up laws and caselaw.

‘We have no guardi-’ Harry stopped mid-sentence, and idea popping up in his head. ‘Severus, what about Alexandros?’ Harry whispered in Albanian. Severus seemed to think it over for a second.

‘Well, I do not know how I feel about someone having guardianship over me, but Alexandros would be a far cry better than this situation with Slughorn being our pseudo-guardian. It’s worth a shot.’ Severus nodded then. ‘Very well, we will ask him if he wants to take over the moniker.’

 

After dinner, Harry, Malfoy, and Severus headed straight for the library. Although Malfoy wasn’t completely aware of their situation and their plan of getting a guardian, the boy was eager to help them out nonetheless.

‘I really want to be a law wizard.’ Malfoy had explained, though Severus had been aware of the passion the man had of the law, being one of the few things Lucius had ever said about his father. ‘After Hogwarts, I really want to study at Leiden wizarding university.’ Malfoy almost had stars in his eyes as he mentioned the wizarding university.

‘Of course, Leiden is one of the few places in the world with a wizarding university, so it’s no wonder their wizarding law division is the best in world..’ He trailed off, not really noticing whether or not Harry and Severus were still paying attention. ‘Father went to LWU as well, as did every Malfoy since the university was founded in 1575..’

As they reached the library, they parted with Malfoy, who immediately headed off to the law section.

‘I wasn’t aware wizarding universities were a thing..’ Harry remarked.

‘That is no surprise. Not only that, but the only cities with a wizarding university are in the Netherlands, the united states, Ethiopia, and India.  It has always been more common to take up an apprenticeship here in the UK to begin with, but especially so after the war with Grindelwald where the UK began to isolate themselves more. I personally had an apprenticeship with a master as well.’ Severus explained.

They sat down at one of the tables in the library, and quickly set to composing the letter, wizarding universities quickly forgotten. ‘Should we mention.. my err, connection?’ Harry asked, feeling awkward even mentioning his situation with Voldemort.

‘If he is to be our guardian, it is likely he will be informed. Though since things aren’t completely certain yet, I suggest we don’t mention it.’ Harry nodded. As much as he liked Alexandros, he did not want more people to know about his situation with Voldemort than necessary. Besides, perhaps he could break the connection.

They quickly wrote the letter, Severus being the one to pen it down, for he had the better handwriting.

**Dear Alexandros,**

**Both Hadrianus and I have been sorted to Slytherin house; the house of the cunning and ambitious. Hadrianus expected to be sorted in Gryffindor, so this was somewhat of a surprise to the both of us.**

**We thank you for the potions publication and the book on the gods, I personally very much enjoyed the article by Parci, his ideas for the application of lavender in healing potions are revolutionary. I look forward to brewing some of his ideas myself.**

**We also write to you with some unfortunate news. During our time here, Hadrianus and I have both been subjected to non-consensual full body examinations. Our legal position is very weak, for our professor Slughorn is considered to be our legal guardian with the death of our parents. He was there during these examinations, and did not disapprove of them.**

**What we are going to ask of you will probably be out of line, but we have few others to turn to. Hadrianus and I were wondering if you would consent to becoming our magical guardian. It would not entail much work, but it would prevent from someone who we do not trust making decisions for us, professors would not just be able to do whatever to us.**

**We know this is much to ask, but we hope you consider nonetheless.**

**Stay safe,**

**Severus & Hadrianus Shehu**

Harry felt bad manipulating the man who had been so kind to them, trying to appeal to his sense of righteousness, but he did not see a better alternative. The Hogwarts professors had proven that they could not be trusted. Harry offered to bring the letter to the owlery, where Democracy would be waiting. Severus had agreed, and went back to researching the omega situation.

For now, the lack of privacy was out of their hands. They would have to wait for both Alexandros and Malfoy.

The walk to the owlery was comforting, the steps familiar, reminding him of the many letters he had exchanged with Sirius. It was hard thinking about the future without feeling a bit melancholic. He was glad Severus was with him, at least, the man proving to be a solid rock in the current.

Once in the owlery, he quickly found Democracy, the owl quickly flying towards him. He attached the letter, and lovingly patted the creature, who then flew off back to Greece to her master.

When he left the owlery a few minutes later, Riddle was waiting for him there, his perfect face perfectly neutral.

‘Did you follow me up here, Riddle?’ Harry asked, feeling slightly creeped out.

Riddle ignored his question, and frowned, crossing his arms. ‘Hogwarts library has a clear lack of information on our situation.’ He stated. Now that Harry looked at Riddle a little more closely, he noticed the bags under Riddle’s eyes.

‘Yes, so it seems.’ Harry agreed, feeling weird talking to Riddle. Severus had found nothing so far, even in the restricted section he had snuck into. He doubted Riddle would have been any less meticulous than Severus had been.

‘I think we need to consider outside sources. Perhaps see if we can find another pairing with the same.. problem.’ Riddle stated, his words as strategic as he always was. Had Riddle already found any sources? Harry wondered.

‘Okay well.. I’ll let you know if I find anything.’ Harry said awkwardly, wanting to get away from Riddle and his scrutinizing gaze as fast as possible. It did not matter how long he had been in the past, he doubted interacting with Riddle was going to something he was going to get used to.

 

The next day, Harry awoke feeling even worse than he had yesterday. His headache was back in full force, and he had slept even less than he had the previous days. He felt so incredibly tired, but his mind would not rest no matter what he did.

He forced himself to get out of bed, and read the last few chapters of the book he had gotten. It was so hard to keep focussed, but Harry wanted to finish this book no matter what. He shot to full focus, when he finally found the first clue as to how a bond could be broken.

**If one of the pairs manages to fracture or destroy his soul, the bond will become void. It is unknown how a voiding would affect a pair. For after all, the entire connection is based on the sameness of two souls. If a half of a pair will damage their soul too much before the fated meeting, it is speculated that heat and rut symptoms will not trigger to begin with.**

That was it then. The reason why Harry and Voldemort had not shared any connection in the future. Voldemort had somehow managed to damage his soul, it was the only explanation! He had no clue as to how a soul could even become damaged, but this was huge.

He needed to discuss this with Severus! Harry needed to find out how a soul could even break to begin with, and what the effects of that happening were.

Harry waited patiently the entire day to get an opportunity to tell Severus what he had found out, but they were in the company of others the entire time. Harry did not want to risk anyone hearing what he had found out, so he patiently kept his tongue.

He crashed in his bed that evening as soon as he could, but once again, sleep would just not come.

 

Tom awoke feeling incredibly cold, the ache even spreading to his bones. He felt worse than London did after a bombing, and all he wanted was to torture someone to take off the edge. These past few days, he had felt progressively worse.

His search on Alphas and Omegas turned up very little besides the book they had been gifted by Merrythought. It seemed like the only way their bond could be broken, would be by damaging one of their souls. Tom wasn’t sure whether he liked that possibility.

Sure, he had come across soul damaging rituals in his quest for immortality, and hell he even had considered a few of them.. but the more he looked into it.. It was likely to cost him his sanity, he had accidentally found during his research on alphas and omegas.

The soul was something much more fragile than he had ever considered. He did want to be immortal.. but.. Was he even himself without his complete sanity? Could it really be said _he_ was the one to become immortal? It was something he would have to consider some more.. even if it did kill two birds with one stone.

Maybe there was a way to one-sidedly break the bond? That way, only Shehu would suffer the negative consequences. It would be amusing to see the boy beg for him, Tom being utterly unaffected. _It would prove him right for being so dismissive of him.. of hanging out so much with Malfoy.._

Oh Merlin, that had been cruel, even for him. As much as he wanted Shehu to squirm, surely there would be more efficient ways to make use of the boy? He wondered what those emerald eyes would look like, utterly devoted to him..

Tom stored away the thoughts, they were of no use to him whilst he still had so little information.

 

During breakfast, Tom noticed Shehu and his brother arriving much later than usual. Shehu looked like shit, even worse than Tom. He looked like he was about to crash down to the floor, and Tom had to wonder how the boy was still keeping himself together.

‘You look quite ill, Shehu. Are you alright?’ Malfoy asked, looking concerned for their new classmate.

‘I didn’t quite manage to sleep.’ Shehu answered with a shrug, helping himself to some eggs. Tom glanced at the brother, who seemed as unreadable as usual. Severus.. wasn’t it? Tom hadn’t given much thought to the boy, but found himself strangely annoyed by him. He hated how the two of them would slip into Albanian, sharing secrets between the two of them.

 

During the classes they shared that day, Tom found himself unable to stop glancing at Shehu. The boy seemed to have trouble concentrating, even more than Tom. He wasn’t quite sure what he felt, though he felt a strange urge to take the boy into his arms, as if that would fill some sort of ache within Tom. How preposterous. That must be the bond affecting him.

When he realised this, Tom pointedly ignored Hadrianus as much as he could. He would _not_ have that infernal boy affecting his thoughts and emotions. If he felt any worse by doing so, Tom vehemently denied so to himself.

Things came to a head later that night, long after curfew, and sleep would once again not come to him. He had long since finished his prefect rounds, but went out with the excuse to patrol once more. Something was calling him to leave the common room, Tom following without realising that he was being influenced by something other than himself.

He went up many stairs, through many empty corridors, his body moving as if it were possessed, Tom lost in thought. He finally came to a halt above the astronomy tower, finding Shehu there gazing towards the sky, his face weary.

 

Harry had begun to feel worse and worse, knowing it was hopeless to even try and sleep, he had snuck off to the astronomy tower. It was the first time he had used his invisibility cloak in a while, thankful he had the foresight to bring the item with him to the past.

He had never been the best at astronomy, but it was comforting. The stars were almost unchanging, thanks to their long life-time. The stars were the same in 1943 and 1994. He tried to find the Big Dipper, hoping to find the northern star that way.

It was comforting, in a way, Polaris would always guide him to the north, no matter when or where he was on the earth.

Harry did not notice someone had joined him at the railing, until he heard the irritating voice he had grown to loathe. ‘It’s like staring into the past, isn’t it?’ Riddle asked, Harry wondering what a person like Riddle could possibly see in the stars. ‘Light doesn’t travel as fast as those stars are away. The images we’re seeing are of the stars decades, perhaps even thousands of years old. It’s fascinating.’ Riddle explained.

‘I didn’t think you were the type to know muggle science.’ Harry snorted, genuinely being surprised. He didn’t think the so called dark lord would ever lower himself enough to read anything thought up by a muggle.

Riddle scowled, and seemed to debate something. ‘I grew up with muggles.’ He explained quietly. Harry felt shocked, was.. Riddle being honest with him? But why? Why would he reveal a weakness like that? Riddle laughed at his expression, the most genuinely one Harry had ever heard from him. ‘Don’t worry Shehu, it’s common knowledge in Slytherin.’

‘Oh.’ Harry said dumbly. With how respected Riddle was within Slytherin, Harry had almost felt impressed with the way the boy had worked himself up. Almost. They returned to silence, gazing out to the night sky.

Harry did not understand why, but he felt more comfortable than he had in days, even if he was in the company of Riddle. It felt as if breathing was a little easier, as if the air around him was a little warmer, as if he could finally sleep a little.

‘I grew up in the muggle world as well.’ Harry said after a while, feeling an urge to confess something about himself. Like he could let his guard down a little. He did not offer more than that, however, he did not want to risk messing up his backstory.

‘The war, I hate it so much. Returning to London whilst the Germans could drop another bomb at any second.’ Riddle ranted, finding solace with being with someone who was aware of the horrors. His face darkened.

‘Yeah.’ Harry said, though he had only caught glimpses of the devastation the axis was raging across Europe. ‘It’s devasting. It shows some of the worst humanity has to offer.’ Harry felt bitter at the thought.

They had sat down at some point, trading stories of their experiences. Harry told him of how Alexandros had saved them for a Nazi, of how the man had offered them a place when they had nowhere to go.

The subject quickly changed into topics more pleasant, with Riddle and Harry talking about Harry’s newfound interest in ancient runes. Riddle knew so much about the subject, and seemed genuinely happy to discuss it with Harry. Harry eagerly listened, throwing in his two cents on subjects he knew a bit about.

It was pleasant, and Harry fell into an easy lull. Before he knew it, he fell asleep, leaning against Riddle. Riddle soon followed, unconsciously moving Harry in his arms before he fell asleep against the railing of the astronomy tower.

Even with the cold of the September night around them, both boys felt more at peace than they ever had in life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My unmade Law coursework is glaring to me across from my desk, begging me to finally do my homework.


	9. Law of motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Tom are starting to feel some things they aren't too happy with, how will they deal? Life at Hogwarts continues, whether they're ready or not. The playing field has changed, and the players are about the make the first moves.

Harry felt very snug, as the filtered sunlight hit his face. His eyes slowly fluttered open, Harry finding himself to be disoriented in his surroundings. This- This wasn’t his dorm? He then felt the pain his back, from the awkward way he had fallen asleep. He then felt the arms around him.

Harry shot up, quickly backing away from the person who had been holding him. Merlin. He had fallen asleep in the arms of Tom Riddle?! Riddle looked disheveled, but more calm than Harry had ever seen him before. His chest was slowly rising and falling, a soft snore coming from his mouth. If it had been anyone else, Harry would have found it adorable.

Instead, however, Harry felt the shame rise in him, his face colouring bright red. He could not believe he had been so comfortable in Riddle’s company he had fallen asleep like that. Merlin, what if anyone had _seen_ them like that?

Still though.. he had to admit, last night with Riddle had been.. nice. He could easily understand why Riddle charmed people so easily. Last night, they had talked like they were close friends, and for a few minutes, Harry had almost managed to forget who the man would become.

Almost.

Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak from where he had dropped it on the ground, and casted a quick tempus. ‘6:22’ it read. Good, he could be back to the dungeons before anyone would really awake. He wouldn’t get any uncomfortable questions then, at least.

He should probably wake Riddle up. Somehow, he didn’t feel like leaving Riddle alone back here. To have someone find the boy all vulnerable like that. God, Riddle would feel so humiliated. As much as Harry disliked Riddle, and everything he would become, he couldn’t be cruel like that; didn’t want to. _He did not want make Riddle feel humiliated,_ Harry realised.

Better to not think about that too much, Harry decided. He tapped Riddle on his shoulders, the boy waking up with a start. ‘She-Shehu?!’ He gasped, his eyes darting around in shock. It was the most caught of guard Harry had ever seen Riddle, and he had to stifle a laugh.

‘It’s 6:22, we better head to the common room before anyone finds out we were gone.’ Harry explained, already moving away. He had waken up Riddle, surely that would be good enough for his stupid moral compass.

Riddle caught up with him a few moments later, saying nothing. An awkward silence hung between them, neither wanting to acknowledge they had spent the night the way they had. Harry had to admit, even though he had spent the night outside in the cold, he felt more rested than he had in days. He felt, content in away. He did not want to think of the implications of that.

They continued through the halls in silence, even most of the paintings still being asleep. They were almost at the entrance to the dungeons, when they were stopped in their tracks by none other than professor Dumbledore.

‘Tom, mister Shehu?’ The professor asked calmly. Riddle and Harry turned around, and he had to stop himself from groaning. Merlin, with everything going on, he had almost forgotten Dumbledore had tried to attack his mind! He deliberately looked everywhere but the professor’s eyes, he wasn’t going to try for a direct confrontation right now.

‘Yes, professor?’ Riddle asked, a big fake smile plastered on his face. It didn’t work, with Riddle’s eyes screaming bloody murder.

‘What are you two doing out this early?’ The professor asked jovially, his eyes twinkling. It seemed very fake to Harry, as did every interaction between Dumbledore and Riddle. It was baffling to see his former headmaster dislike someone that blatantly.

‘Riddle was showing me to the owlery, professor.’ Harry lied, all he wanted was to go back to the Slytherin dungeon and take a long, long shower.

‘This early in the morning?’ Dumbledore asked, his mouth in a thin line. It was obvious the professor didn’t believe them.

Harry nodded, Riddle answering the question for them. ‘Yes, I saw Shehu working on a letter in the common room, as a prefect, I offered to show him where to find the owlery.’ It was obvious that Riddle’s patience was wearing thin, and Harry had to agree. Why did it even matter where they had been?

‘I see.’ Dumbledore said, pretending to be satisfied with their answer. Harry would bet Dumbledore would have tried to get into his mind if he had met the man’s eyes. ‘Well, hurry back to your common rooms then, it will be a while before breakfast.’ Dumbledore smiled kindly at them.

Riddle and Harry bid their farewell, ready to descent the stairs to the dungeon. Dumbledore turned to them one last time, as if he were remembering something. ‘Oh, twenty points from Slytherin. It really is not proper for you boys to go out looking as messy as that, I suggest you two fix yourself up before breakfast.’ Dumbledore said, his tone much kinder than his words.

Harry wanted to scream, but bit his cheek to keep his anger controlled. What in Merlin’s name was _wrong_ with Dumbledore? Had the man been this spiteful in the future? Had the man tried to read his mind in the future..? Harry felt very dirty all of sudden.

He looked at Riddle, who was trying to contain his anger as well. They moved further down quickly, both of them wanting to put a distance between them and Dumbledore. Curiously, Harry couldn’t stop himself from asking. ‘Riddle, if you don’t mind me asking, why does Dumbledore dislike you so much?’

Riddle stopped in his tracks, surprised by his question. He seemed to ponder it over for a while, but he did not get upset with the question being asked. ‘He was the one to introduce me to the wizarding world.’ Riddle explained with a sigh. ‘I suppose he did not like what he saw..’ Riddle looked away, and the two of them fell back into silence.

Harry had not expected to get an answer. Riddle was being more open with him than he would ever expected him to be, and for the first time, Harry wondered if the boy could become something different than the monster would be in the future. Harry did not have the answer.

‘He shouldn't judge you like that.. before you even get a chance to prove yourself.’ Harry said quietly. As much as he disliked everything Voldemort was, Dumbledore had no reason to distrust Riddle like that. Dumbledore, although right in his distrust, had no prove of what Riddle would become in the future. Harry knew what it was like to be judged before he had even done anything, like how his aunt had made sure everyone in the neighbourhood thought he was a delinquent. No one had even wanted to give him a chance after that..

Fuck, why was he sympathising with the enemy?!

 

 

Albus narrowed his eyes as he watched Tom and Shehu walk away. The cloak Shehu had carried with him.. it couldn’t be? Albus had come across the exact description of the cloth back when he had been helping Gellert with his evil plans.

Shehu had an invisibility cloak; and by the looks of it, it was the Peverell cloak. Their mysterious Albanian transfer-student was in possession of one of the deathly hallows. Albus supposed his backstory would make more sense like that, if it was a family possession, it wold explain why Gellert’s forces had been after the boy’s mother.

But something wasn’t adding up. The boy being soulmates with Tom, dodging his legilimency, it was all just a little too suspicious.. The boy had vowed that he did not serve Gellert, and it was obvious the boy could still preform magic.

Shehu was obviously entering Tom’s sphere of influence, it would be catastrophic if Tom managed to get a hold of the cloak. Perhaps there was still hope for the boy, perhaps he could still save the boy from Tom’s darkness. Whatever the future held for Tom, it would destroy everyone around him..

It was terrifying how much Tom reminded him of Gellert.

 

 

Later that day, when Severus and Harry were studying and researching in their usual spot in the library, Harry confessed what happened with Riddle to his former professor. Severus had taken everything in with a neutral expression, until he seemingly realised something.

‘You look much better than you did the previous days.’ Severus drawled. ‘It’s your connection, you need to spend time with Riddle for your body to remain healthy.. If you want to prevent more deterioration, I am afraid you will have to spend more time with the dark lord.’ Severus winced at the thought, it was obvious that he did not envy Harry’s situation.

‘Merlin, _why_ did it have to be him?’ Harry moaned in despair, dropping his head on the table. Even worse, he couldn’t muster the same level of disgust for the boy as he had before. What if he couldn’t go through with the killing? That reminded him.. ‘Severus, I think I might have found a way to break the connection.’

Severus sat up sharp at that, keen eyes gazing at Harry. Severus made sure that their privacy wards were at full strength, then nodded at Harry so that the boy could begin speaking. ‘In the book, it was mentioned that a connection could be broken if one of the souls of the pair got damaged. I think it’s why the bond never triggered in the future.’

Severus gasped. ‘Horcruxes..’ Severus breathed in with horror. It was the only answer, everything made so much sense now. Everything Dumbledore had alluded suddenly came to him, and he stared at Hadrianus in horror. Hadrianus was a Horcrux. Dumbledore had never directly said so, but he had always hinted at it.

‘What’s a horcrux?’ Harry blinked, understanding that it must be something bad for Severus to react like that.

Severus swallowed his horror. He needed to remain calm, he was going to make sure Hadrianus was going to be safe, even if it was the last thing he would ever do. Even beside the vow, he had began to care for the boy along the way. He would be there for the boy. ‘It’s a piece of vile magic, dark beyond comprehension. It’s the act of splitting ones soul, in order to gain immortality. If your body dies, another part of the soul will still be bound to something else, so the rest of the soul will not be able to pass on.’

Harry frowned. ‘There is more to this, isn’t there?’ Harry asked, biting his lip. ‘How does one create a Horcrux?’  He looked Severus head on, unafraid of the answer. The boy would be, if he had even a clue he was one himself.

‘You have to kill someone, the part of the soul that is split off will hatch on to a vessel.’ Severus said carefully, observing the boy. The boy bit his lip as he concentrated, until recognition lightened in his eyes.

‘The diary was a horcrux, wasn’t it? He must have used moaning Myrtle’s death..’ Harry stood up, and started pacing around their table. ‘But he still managed to return to life at the graveyard.. so I doubt it was the only one.. Fuck, he split his soul more than once?’ Harry exclaimed in disgust. ‘I can’t imagine that would do much good for your sanity..’

Severus was impressed, it seemed the boy was more perceptive than he had ever suspected. ‘Yes, I think you are probably correct.’ He frowned. ‘The soul is the most integral part of our being, messing with death is a sure fire way to become one with madness.’

‘But surely Voldemort should have known that?’ Harry remarked confused. He couldn’t see Riddle being careless enough to overlook something like that. ‘Surely madness would not be worth the price of insanity?’

‘People do idiotic things when they’re afraid, Hadrianus. And if Dumbledore’s suspicions were correct, the dark lord’s biggest fear was death.’ Severus’s face darkened. ‘He might have jumped on the first thing that would ease his fear, or he knew the consequences and did not care.’

Harry sighed and stopped with pacing, plopping down on his old seat. ‘I wonder how Voldemort would have turned out if he hadn’t created the Horcruxes..’ Harry trailed off, staring into the distance. Severus realised something then, Hadrianus was starting to hesitate..

 

 

Tom spent the next few days avoiding Shehu as much as possible. It was confusing, interacting with the boy. He felt the strange compulsion to be honest with the boy, and after their night together, Tom was ashamed he was almost growing fond of the boy. It was.. unacceptable.

He was afraid of the connection, and how much of a hold it seemed to have over him. He was afraid of the hold Shehu was starting to have over him, of how much the boy was in his thoughts. The connection had changed everything, all the pieces having scattered across the chessboard.

The separation was even harder on him than it had been the first time, his body had felt complete when holding the boy. Now that it had a taste of the peace Shehu offered, it was hungering for more. It was just too bad Tom himself did not agree with his body. _He_ was in control. He was _not_ a slave to his impulses.

 

 

‘Alexandros is in Hogsmeade!’ Harry gasped as he read the letter in front of him. ‘He wants us to meet him as soon as possible.’ Harry explained to Severus, who noticed several people listening in on their conversation. Namely, Riddle’s entire posse.

‘We’ll sneak out tonight.’ Severus said in Albanian, throwing the boys of their class a pointed look. Apart from Riddle, they all looked away, pretending to not have been listening in. ‘I take it you still have your invisibility cloak?’ Severus asked.

‘Yes.’ Harry answered, continuing the conversation in Albanian. ‘He agreed to be our guardian, he said! He wants to look into complaining to the board of education for us.’ Harry said, handing the letter over to Severus so that the man could read it himself.

Harry turned to Malfoy, who was sitting across from them in the great hall. ‘Our guardian is going to complain to the board of education..’ Harry remarked to the boy, hoping he came across as casual, if they could get Malfoy’s father on their side, it would be a great asset.

‘You’ll definitely have a greater chance to make impact with a member of the board on side.’ Malfoy said excitedly. ‘I told father about your examinations, he was outraged! He had been planning to speak to board about this anyway, but with out a complaint from a guardian.. there is very little he can do. Should I put father in touch with your guardian?’ Malfoy asked.

‘That would be great, Malfoy!’ Harry exclaimed with a smile. Harry knew help usually did not come without a price in Slytherin, but the Malfoys genuinely seemed to care about the school and what happened with in it. Harry wondered what had happened to the family for them to become willing to endanger the school and the students within it..

 

They had snuck out later that night, having sent a letter to Alexandros they would be in the three broomsticks at 8:00. Harry had wondered why they had chosen such a public meeting spot, but Severus had insisted it was inconspicuous in its own way. ‘It’s always densely packed- No one will pay attention to some students, besides the Hog Head is owned by Dumbledore’s brother..’

Yeah, Harry didn’t particularly fancy another run in with Dumbledore, not when they were going behind the back of the school to launch a complaint. ‘Has Dumbledore always been this obvious in his preference for Gryffindor?’ Harry asked, as they made their way towards the pub.

‘He became a little more partial when he became a headmaster- he had to, I suppose, but his preference has always.. remained.’ Severus’s expression turned sour, unbeknownst to Harry, going down on memory lane. ‘There have been incidents of bullying- Gryffindors bullying Slytherin students, Dumbledore ignoring the complaints.’ Severus spat, thinking back of his school days.

‘That’s terrible..’ Harry said softly. ‘To be fair though, as long as I can remember, I don’t remember bullying ever being punished at Hogwarts.’ Harry shook his head, it wasn’t fun, becoming this disillusioned with the first place he had ever called home.

‘Dumbledore is a great man, he was honestly the driving force in the war against Voldemort, and of course the one who finally put an end to Grindelwald’s reign. Dumbledore is incredibly wise, but I do not think he is fitted as a headmaster.’ Severus admitted, some of this true thoughts finally coming to the surface. ‘Keeping me employed, to be frank, was a disservice to the students.’ Severus sighed, he knew he hadn’t been a good teacher.

‘For what it’s worth.. Severus, I am glad you are here with me in the past. I know we did not get along in the future, but I would have long since gone crazy if you weren’t here. I am glad I don’t have to do this alone.’ Harry said, quickly after opening the door to the pub, leaving Severus without a chance to reply.

Alexandros had already been waiting for them, sitting in a booth hidden away from most of the other patrons. The man was reading a letter, earnest and utterly concentrated. ‘Alexandros..?’ Severus asked, as the two of them sat down opposite of the man. The man let out a yelp of surprise, as he often did when someone broke his concentration.

‘Hardianus, Severus! I am sorry to appearing here all of sudden, but I figured it was of the utmost importance we discussed this face to face.’ Alexandros apologized, looking around the pub to see if anyone was listening to them. ‘I see you two have been quite busy as well, I just got a letter from one Claudius Malfoy..?’

Harry laughed. ‘That would be the father of one of our year mates, Abraxas Malfoy. He heard about what happened, and wrote to his father, I suppose.’ Harry explained.

‘Well, if you two would allow me to file a complaint for you, I’m sure having him on our side will prove to be valuable.’ Alexandros said.

‘Are you sure you are willing to do this for us, Alexandros, we know it is a lot to ask.’ Severus sighed. ‘We now we have asked you, but you have done so much for us already.’ He supplied, his feelings genuine. He couldn’t believe their luck, having stumbled on the kind-hearted Alexandros when they had.

‘I know that I must seem very weird to the two of you- being so eager to help.’ Alexandros sounded sad, and Harry was just about to reach out and comfort him, when the man continued. ‘I know what is like, being without parents, being dependent on the whim of adults who do not care about you..’ Alexandros took a sip from his drink, fire whiskey. ‘My parents passed away when I was around your age, leaving me and my brother behind. I guess you remind me of us. It makes me want to protect you from the shit we had to go through..’ He smiled at them.

It was a big gamble, letting someone take guardianship over them. They would have a lot of say over their life, and it was not always certain they would have the best intentions towards them. But with Alexandros, Harry and Severus felt it was worth to give the man a shot.

‘Let’s head to the English Gringotts facility, they should still be open.’ Alexandros said, as he stood up from the booth. ‘If the goblins consider me to be truthful in my intentions, they will allow me to conduct the ritual which will allow me to become your magical guardian..’

They apparated to Diagon Alley as soon as they had left the pub, they swiftly made their way to Gringotts. When they had stated what they came for, the Goblin’s lead them to a small chamber, joined by the ritual leader.

‘For the ritual, it only matters that magic herself accepts you to be a fit guardian.’ The goblin had told them. ‘This is only possible if all parties accept the new guardianship.’ He continued, taking a drop of blood from their thumb.

The ritual had taken the good part of an hour, with the three of them reciting the lines the goblin had given them. At last, a gold band had flown between Severus and Alexandros, and Harry and Alexandros meaning they had succeeded. However, the longer the ritual processed, the more Harry looked to be out of it, and Severus started to worry about the boy.

They had just exited Gringotts, when Harry fainted all of a sudden. He fell to the ground, and the apparent glamour he had cast on himself had fallen. ‘Fuck.’ Severus, cursed besides himself. Harry had been hiding the fact he hadn’t been interacting with Riddle again, and now his body was taking the toll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost my public transportation card today, to my horror. It was quite a horror to order a new one, so I'm quite exhausted. I didn't manage to buy groceries because I got home after the shops were closed because of this, ugh.
> 
> The next upload will either be on Friday or Thursday! I've got a bit of a busy week ahead of me, unfortunately.


	10. Hegemony of the bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry play a very small role in this chapter, for once. I'm wondering, this fiction is a bit OC heavy at times (with Alexandros, and arguably some characters that never really had a role in canon like Malfoy), do you guys mind that? I try to involve as much canon as I can.

‘Hadrianus?!’ Alexandros exclaimed, as he rushed to the collapsed boy. He examined the boy without magic, afraid magic could worsen the symptoms. ‘He is sweating profusely.’ Alexandros placed the back of his head against Harry’s bloated forehead. ‘He is running a fever, his breathing is uneven. We need to get him to hospital!’ Alexandros, though fretting, seemed to be fairly clear-headed.

Severus looked pained, internally debating whether or not he should tell Alexandros about Harry’s bond. If he was wrong, and the separation was not what was causing Harry’s sudden fainting, he would have revealed the secret needlessly. With the boy’s health at stake, Severus found himself at a stalemate.

‘If I suspect I am right about what is going on, we should get him to Hogwarts instead..’ Severus sighed, he couldn’t risk Harry’s health. But what if he were wrong? He didn’t trust madame Ruth with Harry, the medi-witch had made sure of that. But what if he were right? Then St Mungo would be informed of Harry’s condition, potentially putting the boy in even more danger. A crowd had started to form around them, trying to peak at Harry to guess what was going on. He had to act quickly. ‘Quickly, apparate him to Hogsmeade.’  Severus said with a sigh.

‘I trust you know what is going on, Severus.’ Alexandros nodded, gently taking Harry from the ground, holding him in his arms. ‘You better hold on, Severus.’ Alexandros remarked, extending his elbow for Severus to take. Severus took hold of the man, and the three of them disappeared to Hogsmeade.

‘He is far too light..’ Alexandros muttered as he shook his head. ‘I am not sure if this is the responsible thing to do, but I am going to trust your judgement, Severus. If you think we should take him to Hogwarts, I will believe you.’  Alexandros seemed torn, wanting to take the boy to a hospital, not to some school nurse.

‘Thank you.’ Severus seemed grateful, and the two of them ran as fast as they could towards the castle. Severus took his wand out, and cast a patronus, revealing a startling silver doe, whispering to the apparition. ‘Tell Tom Riddle to come to the hospital wing.’ Though perhaps the message would be unnecessary, if Riddle were in the same state as Harry.

‘You can cast a patronus?’ Alexandros whistled, impressed even with everything going on. ‘That’s amazing, I did not manage to cast a corporeal patronus until I was twenty-two!’

‘Hadrianus can cast one as well.’ Severus remembered, it had been infuriating at the time when he had heard about it from Dumbledore. It didn’t help that the boy had the same animal as his father. Looking back on it though, it was beyond impressive the boy had managed to cast a fully corporeal patronus at age thirteen, even if necessity dictated it. The fact that there had been necessity at all however..

The two of them fell silent as they continued to run, Severus’s sides started to hurt from the sudden exercise. He had never been the most athletic one, and when they had finally reached the secret entrance Severus knew of, Severus was out of breath. He did not show it though.

‘The gates are closed, but this is a secret entrance.’ They clambered into the small passage, keeping up their pace still. Harry was not exactly out cold, muttering nonsense, beats of sweat forming on his forehead. He seemed to be unaware of the situation.

After about four minutes, they emerged on the fourth floor, the passage hidden behind a mirror. Severus rushed them towards the hospital wing, with the late hour, they did not encounter any students. That is, until they finally reached the hospital wing.

Malfoy, Nott, and Avery were waiting outside of the hospital wing, clamoring for information. It seemed like the medi-witch had kicked them out, and they looked quite peeved. Malfoy noticed him first. ‘Shehu, what are you doing here? Wait- Is that your brother?’ He gasped, looking quite concerned for Harry.

 ‘Is Riddle in there?’ Severus asked, already suspecting the answer. He heard Nott say yes, but Severus did not stop to listen as he burst into the wing. Alexandros quickly followed, the man too determined to feel awkward.

‘You boys, I told you to keep out!’ The medi-witch chided before she turned around. When she saw Harry, she dropped her clipboard in shock. ‘Shehu? Oh no, come here quickly.’ She turned around again, gesturing towards one of the beds, obscured by a curtain. ‘And close the door.’ She added absentmindedly.

Alexandros took Hadrianus to the aforementioned bed, raising an eyebrow at the medi-witch. The bed was occupied with a boy already, seeming to be in a similar state as Hadrianus. ‘This bed is occupied.’ He said plainly when the medi-witch did not catch his complaint.

‘I do not know who you are, or how you got in here, but if you do not place that boy in this bed right now I will curse you both!’ She scowled, Alexandros ready to storm out of the hospital wing in anger.

‘She is probably right, please lay him down, Alexandros.’ Severus pleaded, his voice softer than Alexandros was used to. As angry as he was right now, Hadrianus should be the most important. Severus seemed to know what was going on with his brother, then Alexandros should listen to the boy. So with a sigh, he placed Hadrianus down next to the brown-haired teen.

The teen instinctively placed his arm around Hadrianus, hugging him close. Both boys instantly seemed to do better, though still quite out of it.Was this? No- it couldn’t be. ‘Severus, can you please tell me what is going on?’ He asked the boy in Greek, stepping away from the bed. He felt like he was intruding, standing even near the two teens.

‘It is not really my place to tell..’ Severus drawled, both of them ignoring the medi-witch as she demanded Alexandros to tell her who he was. ‘As our guardian, however, I suppose you will find out eventually anyway.’ They did not notice the medi-witch hurrying out of the hospital wing.

The two of them sat down opposite each other on nearby beds, and Severus made sure to ward the area around them to make sure Riddle’s posse would not hear them if they tried to sneak into the infirmary. ‘When Harry sat down at the Slytherin table on his first night here, he, ah, discovered he had a soulmate connection with the boy you just saw in the bed.’

‘You’re talking about an alpha/omega connecting.’ Alexandros stated, giving a quick look to Hadrianus’s bed. It made so much sense now, damn, this was the first time he had met another pairing besides Arielle and Linnea.

‘You know about the phenomenon?’ Severus asked, sounding quite surprised. Alexandros wasn’t surprised about that, soulmate pairings were quite rare, he doubted the boy knew about their existence before either.

‘Two of my friends from university are soulmates, I only know what they told me about it.’ Alexandros explained. ‘I have never seen anything quite like this happen to them though..’

Severus scowled. ‘Hadrianus and Riddle are not getting along. This almost happened before as well, I thought the brat would have learned his lesson and stopped to avoid Riddle.. To think he was wearing a glamour the entire time..’ Although seemingly acting unconcerned and callous, it was obvious the boy was utterly concerned for his brother.

‘..brat? Aren’t you the same age.’ Alexandros asked with a laugh, his fears having been somewhat eased now that he knew what was going on with the boy. The avoidance, however, well. He did not know why Hadrianus and his intended were not getting along, but it was obvious the two of them could not continue to go on like this.

‘He is acting like a brat.’ Severus continued to scowl, and Alexandros had to suppress his laughter. Ah, the boy was old beyond his years! The boy was almost acting like he was older than Alexandros himself! He felt a sense of fondness creep up in him.

‘You said you knew another couple of soulmates?’ Severus enquired.

Alexandros nodded. ‘Linnea Bengtsson and Arielle Grenadier.’ Alexandros knew the girls probably would not mind if he disclosed their name, knowing they trust his judgement with telling someone about their situation. ‘Linnea and I studied potions and chemistry at Leiden university, Arielle was a wizarding criminology student.’ Alexandros explained.

‘Linnea and I knew each other from Durmstrang, Arielle had attended Beauxbatons. I was there when they met, you know?’ Alexandros said with a laugh. ‘It had been at a party for the wizarding student association Hecate. The two of them, well, snogged right in the middle of the room! We first thought it was just the alcohol acting up, but it soon got, well. Indecent.’ Alexandros blushed as he remembered the encounter.

Alexandros told Severus stories about his time as a student, to fill the time, occasionally checking in with Harry and his companion to make sure they were okay. Both of them had fallen asleep, holding each other. Perhaps that was for the best, both of them looked like they had not slept in days.

‘So who is Hadrianus’s beau?’ Alexandros asked after a while, his curiosity getting the better of him. He wondered whether Hadrianus was the alpha or the omega, not wanting to make an uneducated guess.

‘Tom Riddle.’ Severus had answered. ‘Slytherin prefect, apparently the Alpha in their relationship.’ Severus spat. It was difficult to separate the young Tom Riddle and the Voldemort that had murdered Lily, bereaved Harry of a childhood.

‘You don’t like him, then?’ Alexandros sounded curious, but not invasive. Severus was about to answer, when Dumbledore, Merrythought, Ruth, and headmaster Dippet rushed into the hospital wing, wand drawn ready to cast. Drawing Alexandros by surprise, Merrythought had summoned the man’s wand before he could react.

‘How did you get in here?’ Dippet demanded, as he gestured for Merrythought and Dumbledore to apprehend the man. Dumbledore hesitated, recognizing the man from when he had visited the Shehu brothers.

‘You are- Mister Demos, if I remember correctly?’ Dumbledore asked kindly, Merrythought stopping in her tracks as she saw Dumbledore interact with the man, trusting the wizard’s judgement. ‘What are you doing on the isles, mister Demos?’

‘There is no need for caution, though I do understand your concern.’ Alexandros explained, staying calm, thankful for Dumbledore trying to diffuse the situation. ‘My ward, Hadrianus collapsed in the middle of the streets. Severus, my other ward, knowing what was going on, asked me to take Hadrianus to Hogwarts. My apologies for entering your school without your knowledge, especially with the war going, but I hope you understand I was acting out of concern for my ward.’

Severus was impressed with how the man was handling the situation, tension quickly diffusing in the room. ‘Is that true, mister Shehu?’ Merrythought asked Severus. Severus nodded, at which Merrythought lowered her wand.

‘..ward? I was under the impression the brothers had no guardian.’ Dumbledore asked, his curiosity peaked.

‘Today I became the magical guardian of these boys, as witnessed by the Goblins of Gringotts.’ Alexandros straightened his posture at that, going from apologetic to business like. He was some choice words about the guardianship the boys had been receiving so far. It was what he had come to England for, after all.

The teachers in the room seemed uncomfortable with the revelation, and Severus couldn’t blame them. Guardians obviously had a lot of rights when it came to their wards, Alexandros being no exception to this rule. They were aware of the forced examination, and the fact that Alexandros could now formally issue a complaint about that.

‘You do know you are not allowed to leave the Hogwarts grounds during school days, mister Shehu? Dippet changed the subject. Severus did not answer, the worst they could do for that offense was give them detention.

‘I am afraid that means two weeks of detention for the both of you, to be served with a professor to be determined. As well as twenty points off Slytherin, _each_.’ Dippet sighed, though he looked glad the situation had calmed down. There would be no need to call the aurors now, thankfully.

‘They can serve their detention with me.’ Dumbledore said.

‘Right, detention with professor Dumbledore then.’ Dippet corrected himself, and gestured for Alexandros to follow him. ‘Mister Demos, please follow me to my office.’ Dippet rubbed his temples, exhausted by the situation. ‘Even if you’re the guardian of these boys, you are still not allowed on these grounds. We will not call the aurors, as it was an emergency, but we do not want to see a repeat. If you follow me, we could talk over your new role as a guardian.’ Then the man turned to Severus. ‘Mister Shehu, it is nearing curfew, please return to your dorm.’ With that, the adults beside Madame Ruth left the room, Alexandros shooting a quick wink to Severus as he left the room.

There was no need to stay in the hospital wing, Severus decided as he looked at Harry one last time. The boy seemed fast asleep, he trusted the medi-witch to not fuck that up, at least. He had to refrain from sneering, the woman had left her patients with a to her unknown man in the room. She had been lucky Alexandros had been harmless, but she should have never left the hospital wing without making sure it was safe to do so.

Riddle’s gang was still waiting outside of the infirmary, and Severus had to suppress a sigh. He was weary from all that had happened, and the last he wanted to do was deal with curious children. Or even worse, curious Slytherin.

‘Shehu.’ Nott said in lieu of greeting. ‘What was going on in there?’ Severus couldn’t fault the boy for being curious, several professors had burst into the wing, wands drawn. He hadn’t expected the boy to be quite so frank, however.

‘Is your brother all right?’ Malfoy asked politely.

‘I suspect both Hadrianus and Riddle will be okay.’ Severus answered cryptically, not looking to give away more information about what was going on.

‘Who was that man with you?’ Avery asked, as the four of them started walking back to the dorms. Riddle’s gang understood they weren’t going to get more information standing outside of the infirmary, their best shot would be hoping Severus would disclose anything.

‘Our guardian.’ Severus answered, feeling a headache building up against his skull. Merlin, he’d kill for a bottle fire whiskey right now. Why did he have to be in the body of a teen? He had been so relieved when he had finally reached adulthood, and now he had to live through his teenage years all over again.

Riddle’s posse kept poking at him, Avery and Nott growing agitated with Severus’s clipped answers. It was a blessing when they had finally reached the Slytherin common room. Nott and Avery sat down near the fireplace, talking to each other. Malfoy followed him up to the dorms.

‘Shehu, I’m sorry about their rude prying.’ Malfoy apologized. ‘You have to understand though, with Riddle being as secretive as he is, it’s quite worrying when something like this happens all of a sudden. We have no idea what is going on with someone we care about dearly.’ Malfoy explained, hoping to ease the tension of the situation. Severus wondered if Riddle was aware how much his gang looked up to him. Severus couldn’t fault them, not really, for hadn’t he also been a follower of Voldemort?

It made him sad to see their blind devotion to a man that would ruin them, ruin their families. The thing with Voldemort was that he did not have friends, he did not have any equals. Only followers, admirers, people who feared him- but no equal.

It made him feel sorrow for Harry, intertwined with Voldemort from his birth. Severus, and even Riddle’s gang had willingly followed Voldemort, but Harry had never had a say in what he wanted to do in life. Dumbledore, the prophecy, and now this connection had always dictated his actions.

Severus opened to the door to their dorms, Malfoy following behind him silently. Lestrange and Rosier were snogging on Rosier’s bed, tangled up in each other. He heard Malfoy gasp behind him, and the two boys sprung apart in surprise.

‘What are you doing, Lestrange you are _engaged_.’ Malfoy hissed, as he stepped further into the dorm. ‘You know what happens if word got out.’ Malfoy sounded concerned for the two boys. ‘Shehu, please keep this to yourself.’ Malfoy pleaded for his friends.

Ah, there was no bigger taboo than going against an arranged marriage under purebloods. Although same sex relationships were not exactly frowned upon in pureblood society, most purebloods had arranged marriages set up from birth. Their true feelings did not matter in those marriages, for they were really only to strengthen ties between families, or hoping that combining two family magics would result in a magical powerful child. Cheating, even before the marriages were consummated, was considered an insult to the family of a future spouse- and could even result in blood feuds.

Being the person that was used to cheat on a spouse was not a comfortable position either, it would be seen as intentionally meddling between the bonds of two families, and would lead to great dishonor.

Rosier and Lestrange looked uncomfortable. ‘Nathaniel and I are well aware of that, Abraxas. Thank you for being concerned, and both of you, I beg of you to keep it to yourself what you saw.’ Rosier begged, knowing the potential blackmail Malfoy and Shehu now had over Lestrange.

‘I care too much about the two of you to do something so horrible to you.’ Malfoy said, his eyes soft, his voice barely more than a whisper. ‘You’re only hurting yourself by doing this, the two of you can never be together.’ Malfoy chocked.

‘Abraxas..’ Lestrange sounded melancholic at the words of his friend. ‘I- I am sorry you had to witness this.’ Lestrange sounded torn, knowing how much it would hurt Malfoy to see his friends break social convention, to see them risk becoming pariahs.

‘What the two of you do is not my business.’ Severus said, knowing he could not comfort the two boys. ‘Just remember, whatever it is you decide to do, make the decision _you_ can live with. Decide what you want for yourselves, and not just what is expected of you.’ Severus knew he was overstepping some boundaries here, but he had seen how unhappy most purebloods were in their marriages.

Merlin, he had known how miserable Lucius had been in his marriage to Narcissa, even though he cared for the woman dearly. If he could give Rosier and Lestrange the chance to think about what they wanted themselves, to see where their values lied themselves, then perhaps they would be more happy with the choice they made. For even if the circumstances were not ideal, it would at least have been their own choice. They needed to make that consideration themselves.

‘I will not ‘snitch’ on you.’ Severus added, making sure he was not perceived as a threat. They would likely still be suspicious of him, but they could not force him to make an unbreakable vow to keep quiet. Their fate was in the hands of Severus and Malfoy, having to count on goodwill in the hope they wouldn’t snitch. It was a very uncomfortable position to be in, but there was little Severus could do to actually abate their fears.

 

 

Harry awoke slowly, disoriented like he usually was when he woke up. It was still dark, and he recognized the slow hum that always accompanied the hospital wing- Oh Merlin, he had fainted, hadn’t he? Severus was going to be so pissed about the glamours he had kept up.

He felt the arms around him, instantly recognizing them to be the arms of Tom Riddle. Fuck, he couldn’t go on like this. He had been too confused to deal with Riddle these past few days, Riddle seemingly being in the same position.

He hadn’t wanted to worry Severus when the avoidance started to take a toll on his appearance and mental health, hence the glamour, but to have fainted..

It was obvious they could no longer ignore their connection. It would be suicide before they even had a chance to break the bond they had, if they even succeeded at that. For the time being, Harry knew he needed to find a way to at least.. coexist with Riddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such a busy week, wow. Very rewarding as well though! I had a lot of social events, and I had my first meeting for honours college.
> 
> Next update is probably tomorrow!


	11. Calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a mistake in the previous chapter, where the OC Arielle was instead called Natasha. I had my friends name the OCs, she was called Natasha in the first draft.
> 
> A bit of a slow chapter, though some discoveries are made.

Harry had waited besides the bed for Riddle to wake up, he refused to crawl back into the boy’s arms, but he needed to talk to Riddle. He felt awkward, sitting on the bed next to the bed where Riddle was sleeping with a serene expression on his face.

He felt like a creep as he studied Riddle’s features, his high-cheek bones, pale skin, and dark hair much like Harry’s own. Harry’s hair was wild and uncontrollable, where Riddle’s hair was sleek and straight. Riddle was tall, where Harry was on the shorter side. Riddle had stupidly perfect lips, his entire face perfectly symmetrical. It was just.. unfair.

If this boy hadn’t been the one to murder his parents, to murder Cedric, Harry admitted he might have fallen for the boy’s good looks. And wasn’t that something? He could recognize he was attracted to boys..  He had never given it much thought before, with his life always being in danger, though he supposed he must have always known subconsciously.

He felt somewhat uncomfortable with the realisation. He had tried his best to ignore what his connection with Riddle _meant_ in that regard, wholly focused on the fact that it had been his arch-enemy and not the fact that his arch-enemy was a guy.

It wasn’t like he had something against homosexuality, but this meant he had to change his entire perspective about himself. He had never had the time for self-discovery before, and now he had to come to terms he deviated from the norm in yet another away.

‘You seem to be deep in thought.’ Harry hadn’t noticed Riddle had woken up, who was now sitting up in the bed, raising a brow at Harry. Harry shook out of his stupor, and looked into the deep brown eyes of his bonded.

‘We can’t go on like this, Riddle.’ Harry muttered with a sigh. ‘This is the second time we collapsed like this, we can’t keep on ignoring each other.’ Harry placed his gay panic aside.

‘I suppose you’re right, Shehu.’ Riddle agreed, rubbing his temple in frustration. ‘We have been going nowhere like this, and I do not wish for this connection to be any more detrimental than it already is.’ Riddle huffed.

Harry rolled his eyes, Merlin what a fucking git. ‘Likewise.’ Harry said instead, knowing it would rile the boy up to know Harry hated the bond just as much as he did. When Harry saw Riddle’s jaw tightening, he knew his petty actions had worked. He wondered if young Riddle would be just as terrifying in his anger as Voldemort had been.

Though a part of Harry realised how petty he was being. They were just moving in circles, continuing the same pattern of feigned disinterest. If they continued on like this, it would be a matter of time before they collapsed again, because they had been to immature to deal with each other.

He did not like this new, more mature side to him. ‘Let’s try to get along Riddle..’ Harry said, feeling defeated. How would his parents feel, if they found out he had spoken those words to his enemy? But it was too exhausting to go on like this.. He needed to- He couldn’t think clearly like this.

‘Al right..’ Riddle said quietly, for once not sounding utterly megalomaniac. What he saw on the bed was a boy just as tired at him, shadows of fear of a future unknown on his face. At that moment, Harry recognized some of himself within Riddle. ‘Could you sit a bit closer?’ Riddle asked, leaving the reason for his request unspoken.

Harry, despite himself, was craving that same nearness. Though he did not admit it to himself, a part of him wanted Riddle to wrap his arms around him, and make him forget about the expectations he and others had of him.

Slowly, Harry narrowed the distance, sitting next to Riddle, leaving a few inches between them, his pride acting up. Their hands were side by side, almost touching. Riddle closed the distance, grabbing his hand. A blush painted Riddle’s cheeks, and Harry knew the boy put aside his pride to do so.

Harry didn’t tear away his hand, ashamedly basking in the warmth their touching skin offered. Harry felt his heart beating loudly in his throat. He didn’t dare to look at Riddle, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. ‘You- You can call me Hadrianus.’ Harry blurted out, suddenly all he wanted to know was how his name would sound on the other boy’s lips.

‘Hadrianus..’ Riddle tested the words, and Harry felt his heart nearly leave his body at the sound. He blushed, feeling awkward, and more happy than he wanted to admit. Was he a bad person for indulging in this moment? For once, giving into what his body wanted of him? He did not know. ‘You can call me Tom, then.’ Riddle said after a while.

He had never heard anyone besides Dumbledore call Riddle by his given name, and Harry doubted even that was consensual. He had changed his name to Voldemort after all, and Harry knew it was because he hated how muggle the name had sounded. ‘Tom..’ Harry said with a smile. A quick satisfaction flashed across Riddle’s face, though Harry had not seen it.

Riddle wrapped an arm around Harry, the first time doing so being aware of exactly what he was going. Later that day, he would be disgusted with his own actions, as would Harry, but when Harry leaned in to his touch, neither boy cared about that for the moment.

 

Severus had come to get him from the infirmary the next morning, Harry and Tom having fallen asleep again sometime during the night. He had thrown off the arm Tom had around him, and thankfully Severus ignored the state he had found the pair in.

Harry checked out with madame Ruth, heading towards the Slytherin dorm with Severus in order to clean himself up for breakfast. On the way, Severus had filled him in on everything that had happened, and the fact that he had told Alexandros about the connection.

‘Well, he was bound to find out..’ Harry had said, not at all upset about it. ‘He knows another soulmate painting, though? That is huge!’ Harry sounded excited, this was the first new clue to information he had found in a long time.

‘Perhaps you could ask Alexandros to put you in contact?’ Severus suggested, being quite curious as well. ‘We could write him tonight.’ Severus added. ‘Though Harry..?’ Severus sounded dark all of a sudden.

‘Yes?’ Harry asked, suspecting he was going to get berated over the glamours.

‘Don’t be daft like that again, brat. You could have gotten yourself killed, we have _no_ idea how this bond works.’ Severus sneered, though Harry knew it was his way of showing that he cared. ‘Don’t be afraid to talk to me, Hadrianus.’ He added.

‘Sorry.’ Harry said, feeling apologetic for worrying both Severus and Alexandros. ‘The connection has been very confusing, and I guess I didn’t really want to deal with it, and with Tom for that matter. I didn’t want to cause more worrying with everything going on, sorry for hiding it for you. Besides, Tom was avoiding me as well!’

‘Tom?’ Severus drawled.

‘Oh? Uh, yeah, Riddle asked me to call him Tom. I figured I’d better get used to using his name.’ Harry said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. He gave an awkward laugh, trying to hide his embarrassment.

It seemed Hadrianus and Riddle had grown.. closer? As much as Harry himself was denying it, the change was very visible to Severus. Hadrianus was, one way or another, starting to care for Riddle. This was quite worrying. He knew what the dark lord was like, and he doubted the man was really capable of caring for another person.

Potter was too kind hearted for his own good. If things continued like this, Severus could see the boy forgiving Voldemort and falling in love with the monster. That was- He couldn’t let Lily’s boy get hurt, he couldn’t let Hadrianus get hurt.

Severus, however, stayed quiet, disturbed by this new revelation. He was going to protect Hadrianus, no matter the cost. 

 

 

During breakfast, Malfoy had come up to them, looking quite concerned. ‘Are you alright, Shehu? How is Riddle?’ He had asked.

‘I’m fine, so is Riddle, I imagine.’ Harry had answered. Malfoy had looked like he wanted to ask more, but the blonde kept quiet. All of Riddle’s posse seemed quite curious, but Malfoy gave them a look any time they were about to ask Harry something, effectively shutting them up.

Rosier and Lestrange looked quite subdued, even less involved with the group than normal, though now they weren’t interacting with each other either. Harry wondered what was going on, and if he should ask Rosier about what was going on. They had been building a bit of a friendship, lately, with their many talks about gods.

Halfway through breakfast, Democracy swooped down to their table, delivering a letter addressed to Harry specifically. Democracy waited at the table, obviously expecting a reply to be given.

**Dear Hadrianus,**

**I hope you are okay after what happened yesterday. It was quite shocking when you collapsed all of a sudden, and it was only because I trusted Severus I didn’t take you to a real hospital straight away! **

**Truth be told, Severus told me about the fact that you are an omega. I know this is very sensitive information, and it must be uncomfortable to have more people know about your situation. Severus might have told you, but I am in fact friends with another omega/alpha paring.**

**They told me how little information exist on the condition, and how much they wished they had someone to guide them through their new status. If you’d like, I could put you and your bond mate in contact with these girls?**

**And please Hadrianus, take care of yourself. I do not know what relationship you and soulmate have, so I will not judge. But please, don’t let it come to this point again. Don’t worry Severus and me too much, okay? We care for you. You don’t have to hide anything from us. Severus seemed quite upset yesterday.**

**Also, and please tell this Severus this as well: I am officially going to offer a complaint to the board of education with the help of Claudius Malfoy, if anything else happens at school, be sure to tell me; or if you know anyone else who’s privacy has been violated.**

**If you two would like to, we could meet at the next Hogsmeade weekend? I was told by your headmaster that that was a thing.**

**Best regard,**

**Alexandros Demos**

Harry wrote a quick reply to Alexandros, agreeing to give his contact information to the other soulmate paring. He supposed he would tell Tom about it as well, figuring it was only fair the boy knew there were others out there.

 

‘Hadrianus?’ Severus asked as the group walked towards their first class of the day; potions.

‘Yeah?’ Harry answered, looking away from his conversation with Malfoy, who he had been discussing the upcoming complaint with.

‘We have two weeks of detention with Dumbledore, starting tonight.’ Severus said, having just remembered. It was something he was looking forward to, not with how violating Dumbledore had been during their transfiguration lessons. Harry winced, obviously reciprocating the sentiment.

‘Great..’ He said sarcastically, causing Avery to chortle.

‘Good luck with that, you two. Detention with Dumbledore is the worst.’ Avery said, the most sympathetic he had ever been towards them. ‘The old goat hates Slytherins..’ He spat, Nott nodding besides him.

‘It’s not that you’re forced to do anything, but it’s just so unnerving.’ Nott complained, having served detention with the professor often. ‘Last time, the man just stared at me for two hours, in complete silence!’ Harry and Severus shared a look.

 

Tom had returned to class halfway during potions, giving Harry an accusing look as he walked passed the boy’s station. _Why didn’t you wake me up?_ It basically spat, Harry just shrugged, going back to his work. Malfoy seemed ecstatic when he saw his friend return.

He didn’t have a chance to speak with Riddle in private, knowing the boy would not appreciate it if he talked about their bond in public. The boy hadn’t even told his friends about the bond, after all. So before he knew it, he was off with Severus to serve detention with his once beloved headmaster.

Before they walked into the classroom, Harry made sure to focus his shields, trying to make them as strong as he could. Even with everything going on, he had tried his best to practice, and he was still steadily improving, though nowhere near as proficient as Severus.

The door opened before they could knock, Dumbledore jovially looking up at them from his desk. He gave them a cheery wave, and motioned for them to sit down. ‘Severus, Hadrianus, welcome. I hope you don’t mind me calling you by your first time, it’s going to be very confusing other wise.’ The man said kindly, though Harry knew he didn’t really have the option to refuse the mans request. The only thing it would do was.. provoke.

‘A part of punishment is giving back to the people you caused trouble for, so today you’re going to help me grade the first years essays I didn’t get to grade yesterday. I have seen how the both of you are in class, and I think you will be more than capable to help me with this.’ Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he each handed them a stack of paper. ‘I can’t promise each day of your detention is going to be this mild, however, as this is a punishment after all.’

That was.. fair enough, Harry supposed, as he grabbed the top paper from the stack, listening intently as Dumbledore explained how they were to grade the papers, and what to look for in the essays. While they set to work, Dumbledore studied them intently, his eyes not once leaving the pair.

Harry made sure to not once let his eyes meet Dumbledore’s, but by the end of the lesson he still felt disturbed. The weight of Dumbledore’s stair felt heavy, and Harry was glad when the man finally let them go.

‘Tomorrow, I expect you to be in the hospital wing at 19:00. I will oversee you ordering the potions cabinet for Madame Ruth, as part as your way of repaying her for the trouble you caused.’ Dumbledore explained as he let them out.

 

Albus watched the two Slytherin leave his office, the twinkle disappearing from his eyes. He shut the door carefully, and poured himself a glass of fire whiskey. He twirled glass, staring into the amber liquid, his mind drifting off.

The invisibility cloak. The hallow which had always interested Gellert the least. Admittedly, they had never done much research into it at the time, Gellert finding the elder wand and the resurrection stone much more glamourous.

Shehu had the invisibility cloak. Albus was sure of it. He had replayed the memory countless times in his pensive, the cloak corresponded with the ones he had come across during all his research. That meant Shehu was a descendant of the Peverells, though Albus had no idea who his mother was.

The boys had never mentioned, had they? Their mother had to be pureblood, a British one, most likely someone who had been a student at Hogwarts herself. It was quite hard to gleam information from either boy, both of them making sure to not look him in the eye. They were aware of Legilimency then, and for some reason did not trust him.

It was too bad he didn’t get a chance to look into the mind of the Greek, perhaps he could learn how he had first encountered the boys. Something wasn’t adding up, and Albus was nowhere closer to solving the puzzle.

It was then when he dropped his glass, fragments of glass shattering across the room. _Henry Potter_. A boy Dumbledore had seen many times in the Gryffindor common room, a boy a few years his elder, a boy who looks almost like a carbon copy of Hadrianus Shehu. He wouldn’t have known if Henry owned the cloak, they had never been close. Perhaps their mother had been a bastard of Henry? One thing was for sure, Potter blood flowed in that boy.

 

Harry had sought out Tom in the common room, where the man had been reading in one of the chairs near the fire place. ‘Tom.’ Harry had called out, causing a few of Riddle’s sycophants to gasp. Riddle had never allowed anyone to call him by his first name.

Riddle simply closed his book, and looked up at Harry. ‘Yes, Hadrianus?’ He questioned, Avery, Malfoy and Nott exchanging looks between the three of them.

‘Can we talk?’ Harry inclined his head towards the dorm, Riddle following him suit, leaving several flabbergasted boys in his wake. Riddle would have cursed someone for using his first name, _on a good day_.

Once they reached the dorm, and made sure it was empty, Harry started talking immediately. ‘My guardian knows of another alpha/omega paring, he offered to bring us in contact.’ Harry said straight to business, looking Riddle head on.

Riddle’s eyes widened for a fraction of a moment, before his face was passive again. ‘That is good news.’ He said, sitting down on his bed. ‘I wasn’t aware you had a guardian..?’ Riddle asked, sounding puzzled.

‘He became our magical guardian just yesterday.’ Harry explained. ‘We met him this summer, in Greece.’ He added, feeling the need to make polite conversation.

‘I see, you’ve mentioned him before.’ Riddle said, his eyes narrowing for a second. ‘It’s because of the forced examination, I presume?’ Riddle stated, not really caring whether or not Hadrianus confirmed his suspicions.  ‘They did the same to me when I first arrived. My consent did not matter, as it never does with orphans around here.’ Tom sounded bitter, though Harry could not fault him.

‘Alexandros, my guardian, is going to launch a complaint with the board of education, perhaps you could, I don’t know, add your story to it?’ Harry suggested. ‘This isn’t right. They can’t treat us this way because we’re orphans.’ Harry felt the anger rise in him.

‘I’ll think about it.’ Tom said, not ready to commit to something like that yet. He had no idea if it would be beneficial, if the complaint would even do anything. He’d rather not antagonize the staff if it had no result.

 

Before they knew it, another week had passed. Harry and Tom kept interacting, though things felt a bit awkward, neither of them acknowledging the bond. They sat near each other during shared classes, and Tom even helped Harry with ancient runes at some point. Harry and Severus also interacted with Riddle’s ‘friends’, somewhat becoming part of their group.

Detention with Dumbledore varied, sometimes they preformed menial tasks for one of the Hogwarts staff members, other days he’d let them work on their homework, staring at them intently. Somehow, Harry noticed that the man felt peeved by the lack of eye contact, but the man couldn’t exactly force it from them.

Then finally, a letter had arrived. The letter had come via a tawny non-descript owl, who flew away as soon as he had delivered the letter. Harry opened the letter with some confusion, Alexandros only delivered letters with Democracy, and who else would write him? Harry noticed the letter had been written in Greek.

**Dear Hadrianus Shehu,**

**My name is Linnea Bengtsson, I am a close acquittance of Alexandros Demos. Alexandros wrote me a few days ago with the news that he was the guardian of an omega- That being you, of course.**

**To make this a little less odd, let me tell you a bit about myself. As I’ve said, I’m Linnea Bengtsson, a twenty-eight-year old potions researcher, associated with Leiden wizarding university. My partner, Arielle Grenadier is a detective for the international wizarding police.**

**I am sure that this new status must be a source of much confusion for you, it did for me as well. There is very little truthful information about being an omega out there, most sources citing crap about omegas being ‘submissive’. I want to assure you that that is other nonsense.**

Harry felt strangely relieved at reading the words. The submission part had bothered him very much, though he had tried not to think about it. He didn’t- He didn’t have to be submissive to Voldemort? Hope swelled in his chest.

**If you would like, Alexandros could arrange a meeting for you and your bond mate during your winter holidays. Truth be told, both me and Arielle are quite curious to meet you; you’re the first other soulmate paring we have heard of.**

**Feel free to send us a letter if you- or your bond mate have any questions. We’ve included our information so that you can reach us. If you’d like, feel free to tell a bit about yourselves as well. Like what kind of subjects you like, or what you’d like to pursue in the future as a career.**

**Best regards,**

**Linnea Bengtsson**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you guys seen the Nintendo direct? Civilizations six is coming to the switch, goodbye sweet free time. 
> 
> I suspect the next update will be on Monday. :)


	12. Spiraling down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update was so late! I was unexpectedly busy with university and my student association. (And I kind of binged Ultimate beastmaster)
> 
> There is a lot happening in this chapter.

Harry felt himself growing anxious, as much as he appreciated meeting other people in the same situation, receiving the letter meant he had to discus the bond with.. Tom. Though he had been interacting more and more with the boy, the bond they shared was something they danced around; never acknowledging.

But he had to tell Tom about this- The boy had just as much of a stake in the situation as Harry did. Harry schooled himself during the day, readying himself to tell the boy about the letter he had received, to acknowledge the bond between them out loud again.

By the end of the day, he was a bundle of nerves, not ready to face Voldemort. He had told Severus about the letter he had received and his intention to talk about it with Tom; so the man only shot him an odd look or two when he saw Harry fidgeting in his chair.

Harry was so distracted during his detention with Dumbledore, it had been too late before he noticed. The man had them grading papers again, Harry’s heart not being in the work when all it could do was skip thinking about his upcoming confrontation. He wasn’t sure whether it was in dread or anticipation. He was hyper aware of his surroundings, twitching at the slightest sound.

It had been a fraction of a second, Harry had looked up when Dumbledore called his name, looking directly up into the eyes of the man. He was the maddening twinkle, and before he could even comprehend what was happening, he saw images of his mother springing up in his mind. The man had slipped through his shields, like a knife slithering through the gaps between his ribs.

Harry’s face contorted in anger, as he jumped up out of his seat. He broke eye contact as soon as he understood what was going on, and in deadly fury he screamed. ‘How dare you?!’ Decorum flying out of the window in his anger.

‘Hadrianus, what’s going on?’ Severus asked, standing up as well. Though it didn’t take long for Severus to put two and two together, his eyes narrowing in disgust as he figured out what was going on. ‘That’s against the law, professor.’ Severus drawled, challenging their former headmaster.

What had the professor seen? Severus wondered, was their position put in jeopardy? Dumbledore stayed quiet, the same kind smile on his face the man always had. Harry’s fist was aching to punch it off the professor. As much as he respected Dumbledore in the future, _this_ was unacceptable.

Harry then realised- The man had used this on him in the future. The sensation of Dumbledore’s legilimency penetrating his mind more familiar than it had any right to be. The man had- The man had violated his mind before.

‘You have no right to my mind.’ Harry spat, hurt more than Dumbledore could understand. The man had dictated his life from the moment his parents had died, Harry never had any choice of his own, and now not even his mind had been completely his own. ‘ _No right.’_ Harry hissed, storming out of the classroom, throwing the door shut. It might have been childish, but in his anger Harry felt a sick satisfaction from it.

God, he wanted to punch something. He stared at the stone wall, his heart hurting in the anger he was feeling, his vision turning red. He started hitting the wall, in his fury he was unable to register the pain in his hand, the chaffing starting to appear on his knuckles.

Somewhere in the distance, he heard someone calling out his name, but Harry continued letting out his anger on the wall. Sound was ringing in his ear, but Harry could focus on nothing but the continuous sensation of his hand hitting the wall, the pain becoming a life-line. It wasn’t until someone touched his shoulder that the real world rushed back to him.

His hand trembled, blood streaming from his knuckles. The skin around his knuckles had opened, his hand was an utterly nasty sight. He looked around to see Tom staring at him, the boy’s brows furrowed in.. concern? Harry wasn’t sure.

‘Tom?’ Harry asked, his anger dissipating. The world came back to him, and from Dumbledore’s classroom he could hear the law baritone of Severus’s voice, sneering, though Harry couldn’t make out what the boy was saying. ‘What are you doing here?’ Harry continued.

‘I felt you, I think. You were angry about something. I remembered you had detention with professor Dumbledore.’ Tom explained, though Harry noted that it didn’t exactly explain why the boy had sought him out. ‘Are you alright?’ Tom asked, gingerly talking Harry’s hand in his own.

‘He used legilimency on me.’ Harry whispered, feeling compelled to be honest with the boy. With Tom, his words always left his mouth before he could really think about what he was really confessing. Tom’s eyes darkened, his grip on Harry’s hand tightening.

‘He used it on me as well, at times, before I knew of the art.’ Tom’s voice trembled in anger, a deadly edge taking over his features. ‘When I complained about it with Slughorn- Well..’ Tom lead him away from the classroom, warry of Dumbledore being so close by. ‘..They did not believe me.’

Harry let out an incredulous laugh. ‘Fuck, they really don’t care about privacy at this school, do they?’ Harry was full out laughing know, the stress of the situation dissipating slightly. ‘Bloody hell.’

They stopped in front of an empty classroom, Tom leading Harry in. ‘I will heal that for you- assuming it is not broking, it should be within my abilities.’ Tom explained. Harry was hesitant to come in, the magic of the moment fading away when he realised he was about to enter a classroom with Tom Riddle- Alone.

‘What, when have I ever hurt you, Hardrianus, have a little faith.’ Tom laughed, the sound music to Harry’s ears. He almost huffed at the future dark lord’s unintentional comedy. It was a shame he was the only here to understand the irony of the boy’s words.

Nonetheless, something compelled Harry to enter, Harry following after his enemy. He sat down on one of the desk, Tom slowly approaching him, talking hold of his hand again. This time, the hold was much more gently, trying to gage the damage Harry had done to the limb.

‘You did quite a number on your hand, Hadrianus.’ Tom explained, almost looking sympathetic. The man continued to touch his hand, Harry’s heart beating loudly in his chest. If he was blushing, Tom did not comment on it.

Tom removed his wand from his robes, uttering ‘Sanitatem’, a healing spell Harry had heard of. He had found it during the Triwizard tournament, though he had never actually used the spell himself. He curiously watched the skin on his knuckles patch up again, the slow crawling making the experience quite morbid.

‘Thanks.’ Harry said when the wound had closed up. The two of them sat in silence, until Tom realised he was still holding Harry’s hand. He let go as if the hand burned his skin, causing the silence to become awkward again.

Harry cleared his throat, desperate to fill the air between them. ‘Uh yeah, so, I got a letter from the other.. uh.. paring.’ Harry scratched his head and bit his lip, his dread of the upcoming conversation rising up once again. ‘Do you want to read it?’ Harry asked, knowing there was nothing particularly incriminating in the letter. It was his way of offering his thanks to Tom, he supposed.

Tom nodded, and Harry got the letter from his carrier. Silence once again filled the classroom, as Tom intently read the letter. It didn’t take long for the boy to finish, a natural quick reader, and he offered the letter back to Harry.

‘This is a very valuable resource.’ Tom nodded to himself. Tom wasn’t exactly comfortable about more people knowing about this potential weakness, but it was essential they learned more about the bond. Malfoy had been a bust, in the end, Tom hadn’t want to risk the boy learning about what Alpha and Omega were, and didn’t end up asking him to search for books on the subject in their library.

With this new paring, Tom knew there was at least mutual blackmail. As much as they knew Tom’s weakness, he knew theirs as well. Trusting them with the information would come with much less of the cost. And well, he really did need some questions answered.

‘They are both female, aren’t they?’ Tom questioned.

‘I think so, yeah. Do you reckon things are different for us?’ Harry asked. ‘I can’t imagine.. heats and ruts work in the same way.’ Harry’s face blushed right red, thinking back on the indecent things he had done with Tom on the Slytherin table.

‘No, I don’t imagine they’re the same.’ Tom added, the slightest hint of pinkness appearing on his cheek. Harry managed to catch it, and had to suppress a smirk himself. Despite the boy’s looks, it seemed he wasn’t all that experienced either. Somehow, it made Harry feel a lot more at ease.

‘Um. How was the rut for you anyway?’ Harry slipped out, having been curious for a long time. He had remembered his own all consuming want, his need, but how had things been on the other side? Had it been just as intense for Tom, or were things one-sided?

Tom looked very uncomfortable, but answered nonetheless. ‘It felt very.. crude. As if I weren’t in control of myself, as if some sort of beast took over, an all consuming need to, well, fuck.’ Tom said bluntly, taking pleasure in watching Harry squirm. The way the other boy said ‘fuck’ sent shivers down Harry’s spine. The dichotomy between how proper and prim the boy usually was, and the vulgarity of the word.. Merlin, what would it be like if Tom actually talked dirty to him?

Okay Harry, stop that train of thought. Harry chided to himself.

‘And your heat then?’ Tom asked, obviously not satisfied with being the only one to answer questions.

‘Well, I guess it was similar? All I can remember was this need, like I needed it more than breathing. It was terrifying, all-consuming, as if I completely lost myself.’ Harry answered, hating nothing more than the lack of control he had felt, the lack of control he always felt. ‘I’m terrified of the next heat, I try not to think about it, but every time I think about losing control like that again it gets hard to breathe.’ Harry was starting to panic know, all his fears coming to the forefront of his mind.

Tom grabbed Harry’s hand again, running comforting circles across the other boy’s palm, his movements uncertain, as if he had never done such a thing before. If Tom was honest with himself, he would love to see Shehu submissive to him, Tom being completely in control, the boy begging for him at his feet.

But Tom understood the fear of not being in control, Merlin, he had felt that fear his entire life. He had never been in control at the orphanage, at first at least, he grabbed onto every last bit of control he could get. Desperate to never feel like he did before.

And when he saw the panic in those clear green eyes, an emotion Tom had sparsely felt before crept up in him, grabbing his stomach in a tight vice. Guilt. It took a while for Tom to understand the emotion, and it confused him. Slow understand bloomed in him, he was starting to care for the boy. Or at least, a part of him did. It was foreign to Tom, and he was not sure whether he liked this new.. development.

‘To gain control, well, the only way to have _true_ control is to gain power, isn’t it?’ Tom speculated, sharing his true feeling with the boy, his hard honed philosophy he had gained during his years. ‘And true power would be to have control over even something like.. death.’

To his surprise, Hadrianus paled, looking utterly terrified. ‘There is a price to power, Tom. A terrible price. Death, sorrow, suffering is what makes us human- it is what makes us able to relate to each other. To throw all of that away, means to throw away your humanity. What are we left with then?’ Hadrianus whispered, hugging himself.

‘Is humanity really worth it?’ Tom muttered. Death had not served his mother, who had died before she even got to know his son. How could something like that be worth it? Be essential to life? The vein in Harry’s jaw popped, Harry bawled his fists in barely contained anger. ‘Death terrifies me more than anything, Hadrianus.’ Tom confessed, and Harry felt the tension leave his body.

He had been so ready to go off at Tom, when all the boy was doing was sharing his deepest, darkest secrets. Harry felt.. dirty. He had judged Tom before the boy even got a chance to clarify what he meant. _Was it a wonder someone would turn into a monster when everyone rejected their true self?_ Harry’s mind supplied, going to places Harry did not want to ponder about.

‘Why?’ Harry wanted to ask, though the truth was already clear to him. It all came back to control- Death was the one thing Tom was not able to control, his teachers, his classmates, everyone around him had always fallen underneath his thumb. But the bombings going around in London, war all around him, life at the orphanage- Tom was just like Harry, yearning to be in control for once.

Instead Harry awkwardly closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around the older teen, giving comfort following his instinct. Tom didn’t stop him, instead returning the hug, the two of them holding onto each other for dear life.

Harry felt as though he had finally understood something vital about Tom, gotten to know a bit about why the boy had become the monster. It made his stomach drop, was there any other path for the other boy?

His head against Tom’s shoulder, inhaling the other boy’s comforting scent, there was nothing Harry wanted for the boy- The chance to become someone better, to not become the half-life he had seen in the graveyard. The scent was lulling, like a crackling fire, Harry’s mind becoming fuzzy. He felt the slow rise and fall of Tom’s chest, the boy breathing in Harry’s scent much the same way. Harry’s eyes fluttered close, slowly falling asleep as the stress of the day left his body.

Tom kept holding on to the boy, staring out of the window, his mind wandering. This had been the first time he had been so open with someone in a long time, since Dumbledore had first snubbed him during his introduction of the wizarding world. It was odd, how uncaring he had been, but Hadrianus had not made use of his weaknesses.

Instead- He offered comfort. It was a surprise, and it warmed something within Tom. So far, the boy in his arms had been cold towards him- yes, but he had not made use of the weaknesses Tom so foolishly had divulged. It was refreshing, and unbeknownst to himself, Tom wore a fond smile on his face.

‘Hadrianus!’ The door to the classroom opened, revealing Severus Shehu. The boy’s eyes widened only ever so slightly, otherwise completely masking his reaction. It was odd how different Shehu reacted to things from his brother, Hadrianus being much more open.

‘Riddle.’ Shehu drawled coolly, analyzing the situation.

‘Shehu.’ Tom answered, doing his best to sound as sickingly pleasant as he could. He did not know what it was, but something about the brother rubbed Tom the wrong way. He seemed to have an innate distrust towards Tom, in much the same way Hadrianus had at first. Perhaps his brother was worried about Hadrianus being an omega? Overprotective over his family in a way Tom would never get?

‘Have you done anything to him?’ Shehu asked, crossing his arms. Though his expression was completely neutral, Tom had no doubt the man was cross.

‘I don’t see how that’s any of your business.’ Tom said, his voice still as pleasant as always, though his eyes were challenging, a cruel smirk twisting his features. It probably wouldn’t do to piss off Hadrianus’s kin, however, not if he wanted to boy to start trusting him. Their relationship was tentative at best, and although Tom still wasn’t quite sure how he even felt about the developments, it was foolish to play his hand right now. ‘Though, he is quite unharmed. He simply fell asleep.’ Tom explained.

Tom lightly slabbed Hadrianus’s cheek, the boy awakening with a start, jumping out of his arms. How the boy hadn’t woken up from their conversation, Tom did not quite understand.

‘Tom?’ Harry asked sleepily, before he noticed Severus standing in the doorway. ‘Severus?’ Harry asked. ‘Oh, Merlin, I must have fallen asleep.’ Harry realised, walking towards Severus as the man beckoned for him. Harry turned around to face Tom one last time. ‘So uh, Tom, I’ll give you contact information for Linnea?’ Harry offered, to which Tom nodded. Harry lingered for a while in the doorpost, almost appearing hesitant to leave.

Severus coughed not so subtly, and Harry blushed bright red as he realised what he was doing. ‘I’ll see you around!’ He told Tom, before finally leaving the classroom completely, leaving Tom alone, lost in thought.

 

Harry started explaining before Severus even had a chance to ask Harry how he went from storming out of Dumbledore’s office to falling asleep in the arms of the man he had come to kill. Severus listened along, listening to Harry’s quick rambling. It seemed Harry was growing distressed with his budding friendship with the dark lord, and Severus could not blame him for it.

‘He could sense your distressed.’ Severus noted with trepidation. ‘I wonder if it is because of the bond- or perhaps the fact that-’ Severus speculated to himself, stopping just in time, realising he had just almost revealed the fact that Harry was a horcrux.

Even though Severus had been a spy for most of his adult life, always shrouded in a web of lies, in that moment he had nearly lead his guard down. Closer to Harry than he had been to anyone since Lily, he had almost began to believe the lie he had built with Harry. It didn’t help how riled up he still was from the conversation he had had with Dumbledore.

‘Huh?’ Harry asked, catching Severus sudden cut off. ‘the fact that what?’ Harry furrowed his brows, noticing the slightest hint of panic on Severus face, cracks in the face of the man. Severus knew he could divert the question, but something told him that it would only be a temporary solution- Harry was going to need to know this before long. As he was growing closer with the dark lord, the more danger there would be in the boy remaining innocent of the foul truth.

So with a deep sigh, Severus revealed the truth. ‘The fact that you are a horcrux.’ Severus said, Harry’s face twisting in confusion.

‘Severus, what are you talking about?’ Harry asked, laughing awkwardly. ‘You’re joking right.’ He stated, hoping his terminally serious professor was for once in his life playing some sick sort of practical joke on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No promises concerning updates, but I'm aiming towards updating on Sunday or Monday. 
> 
> I feel like a lot of development between Tom and Harry is happening right now, and that it might feel like this fic is nearing its end. We're actually still very much in the first half of the story, with the first half being more character heavy, and the second half having more p l o t. (and deviate from canon a lot)


	13. Is there a place for me within the stars?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I didn't give up on this! I'm really sorry about not updating for so many months, things have been rough. Honestly, it's a combination of a loss of inspiration, an incredibly high workload(University classes, honours college, and commission work for my student association), and just dealing with some personal trauma. 
> 
> But I'm back, I hope people are still interested in the story!

‘I suspect- when your parents perished, and the killing curse rebounded, the dark lord unintendedly created a horcrux within you.’ Severus drawled, Harry slowly backing away from the man shaking his head disbelievingly.

‘You’re mistaken.’ Harry’s voice was trembling, terror raging through his body.

‘Dumbledore has been hinting towards it since your second year, Hadrianus.’ Severus explained, sounding pained. ‘Why would you otherwise be a parselmouth?’ Severus added. ‘The language does not suddenly appear in ones bloodline- neither your mother or father were speakers.’

‘No.’ Harry denied, his mind reeling. He sprinted away from Severus, ignoring the man’s shouts. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach, Severus’s words echoing through his mind. What Severus had said made sense, Harry knew that on some level. However, he could not accept it- He did not _want_ to accept it.

Did he have no agency over his life whatsoever? What sort of sadistic jokes were the fates pulling on him? How was it possible for one person to have this much bad luck? What in Merlin’s name had he done to deserve this?

He carried a piece of Voldemort’s soul with him.. What did that even mean? Did it affect him beyond being a parselmouth? How much of himself was truly Harry? Harry feared to hear the answer to that question- feared to know what it all meant.

Harry’s feet took him up stairs, through long winding hallways and secret passages, subconsciously taking him to the astronomy tower. He blinked, shook out of his destructive thoughts, taking in the quiet night.

Everything truly had gone to shit, hadn’t it? Soulmates with the dark lord, Dumbledore was on the verge of figuring out who he really was, and now it turned out he wasn’t even completely _Harry Potter_. Things were even worse than they had been in the future, he had no freedom whether it was in the past or the future. And just like always, he was being kept in the dark about it.

Harry laughed, the sound not unlike a pained animal. He could not stop the sounds coming from his chest, tears forming in his eyes, Harry clutched his stomach, sounds of incredulous laughter filling the air. He looked like a mad man, his hair even more tossed than normal, laughing into the silent night.

He’d be damned before he’d give up. He’d not be caged by some sick sort of destiny- He would not give up, he will chose his own damn path, even if it lead to his very own destruction. He would fight for his freedom- even if it meant opposing everything that stood in his way. He didn’t care if he had to go up against the gods themselves.

He’d- He’d find a way out of this mess, Harry resolved, the starry sky bearing witness to his promise to rebel.

 

Harry had remained at the astronomy tower for the rest of the night until the sun rose. He had been mulling things over in his mind, his grieve eventually calming down to a dull ache. He was grateful for the solitude, not sure on where he stood with Severus, and wanting to see Tom least of all.

He thought about running away, leaving Hogwarts, Britain and everything live had thrown at him with it. Of traveling the world, assuming a new identity, forgetting about Harry Potter- or Hadrian Shehu altogether.

He thought about just killing Tom, and with it, Himself out right. Sacrificing himself to make sure generations to come would be safe from the terror Voldemort would bring upon them. That didn’t sit right with Harry- not anymore. Killing himself would just be giving in to faith, to accept everything it had thrown at him. Besides, Harry realised, he didn’t really think Tom should die any longer.

Besides, Harry doubted that would truly solve anything. Who is to say there wouldn’t be another Voldemort if Tom didn’t rise to the challenge. The past few months he’d been interacting with the Slytherins, their prejudices running so deep they themselves were almost unaware of it. If he wanted to bring on real change, he would need to bring on change within their very hearts.

And if that didn’t sound daunting.

He thought about the horcrux business, what it all could mean, how deep were their souls intertwined? Did it affect their soulmate bond? The more Harry thought about it all, the more questions arose, but no answers came.

He thought about Hermione, Ron and Sirius. Wondered what they would think of him being here, wondered what they would advice him to do. He thought about long nights in the common room, of all the times the Weasleys had opened their home to him, of all the letters he secretly exchanged with Sirius. Harry felt his heart ache at the way they had parted, shrouded in silence.

Nonetheless, now more than anything, he just _missed_ them.

He thought about Tom as well, about the conversation he had with Tom before. Principally, Harry and Tom were not all that different. They both craved the control their lives had denied them- Tom’s fear of that, it seemed that just like harry, Tom just wanted to be free. Harry of whatever fate may lie ahead, and Tom of his biggest fear. 

The creaking of stairs shook him from his thoughts, Harry quietly cursing to himself. Curfew was still in place, wasn’t it?

‘Shehu?’ A careful voice sounded, Harry turning around to see Abraxas Malfoy staring at him curiously. ‘I am glad I found you, I was a bit worried when neither you nor Riddle returned to the dorms last night.’ Malfoy explained, coming a bit closer. ‘You don’t look well.’ Malfoy said bluntly, taking in Harry’s sleep deprived form.

‘Good morning to you too, Malfoy.’ Harry said, more chipper than he intended to sound.

Malfoy shook his head, looking like a mother disappointed in her children. ‘Shehu, I do not mean to be rude, but you mustn’t neglect your health.’ He joined Harry at the railing, and softly bit his lip. ‘Shehu, I know we are not that close, and that we’re both Slytherin, but know that I am here for you if you ever need a confidant apart from your brother or Riddle.’ Malfoy’s eyes were gentle.

‘Thanks, Malfoy, I appreciate it.’ Harry said. Malfoy beamed at him, and gestured towards the stairs.

‘Let’s get you freshened up before class.’ And with that, Harry and Malfoy went back to the Slytherin common room, having to face this growing mess once again.

 

During the day, Severus and Harry seemed content to ignore each other. He couldn’t really stomach Tom at the moment either, even though they had grown closer. He had stuck to Malfoy’s side the entire day, ignoring the worried looks the other boy gave him during the day. He needed to think- think about where he stood, and he needed to do that alone. Malfoy had proven a decent distraction, when all he wanted to was lay in bed and brood, to curse the world and the fates.

Even during Dumbledore’s detention, the last of the ones he had currently been assigned, Severus and Harry didn’t even so much as glance at each other. Dumbledore did not confront the two during the detention, and seemed to pretend as if yesterday hadn’t happened at all. The mood was overly tense, but all three of them ignored the butter-thick atmosphere.  By the end of it, all Harry wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep his problems away.

Too bad he was stopped by Severus before they had even reached the dorms.

‘Harry.’ Severus stated plainly, addressing Harry by his real name, the sound like music to starved ears. He had not realised how much he had missed that part of his identity, of what that name _meant._ Of when he didn’t have to always lie.

Harry turned around, his shoulders tense, his every feature screaming how worn out he truly was. ‘Severus.’ He answered with a sigh.

‘We should really talk about yesterday.’ Severus started to talk, but Harry interrupted him.

‘Severus. I _need_ some time to think. Some time alone, to gather my thoughts. As mad as I am about e _veryone_ always keeping the truth from me Severus, I understand why you kept this from me. But please, allow me to digest this at my own pace. I need some space. I need some space from you- from Riddle, from all of this madness.’ Harry pleaded, exhaustion settling within his very bones. All he wanted to was cry, rage, punch a wall- he needed to be alone.

 

Severus couldn’t say he didn’t understand the boy. All things considered, he was surprised by the maturity the boy was showing in the situation. He had been.. ignorant in the way he went about protecting the boy. The boy was always kept in the dark, whilst having to deal with the consequences nonetheless. It wasn’t fair on the boy to treat him like a child, not when he hadn’t had the opportunity to be one in a very long time.

Severus gave Harry a curt nod. ‘For what it’s worth Harry, I apologize. I shouldn’t be treating you like a child.’ Severus said, as he turned around, his robes billowing, leaving Harry alone in the hallway. He heard Harry quietly muttering his thanks, as the boy went towards the opposite direction.

 

For the next few days, Harry threw himself in his studies to distract himself. Severus thankfully gave him the space he needed, and without even asking, Tom had taken the hint as well. Harry was thankful for it, not quite sure how to deal with his swarming emotions. To keep their bond healthy, Tom did sit next to Harry at lunch, though the two of them didn’t exchange more than a courteous greeting.

He kept pushing through. Not thinking about the situation with Dumbledore, his soul bond, and everything it encompassed. He put off contacting Linnea, he put off thinking on horcruxes. He held his head down, just trying to get through the next day.

He hung out with Malfoy, the two of them becoming closer than Harry would ever expect himself to become to a Malfoy. Malfoy’s chattering always filled the void when Harry didn’t not bear to be left alone with his thoughts.

It was odd, not talking to Severus, considering they had spent nearly the entire summer together. Harry could almost pretend things were normal, within the timeless halls of Hogwarts. But then All Hallows’ eve arrived, a day which had never been pleasant before in Harry’s life.

He was on edge the entire day, feeling like things were about to fall apart at the seams. Harry could not explain the feeling, not sure if he should chalk it up for his general dislike of Halloween, or if something was r _eally_ about to happen.

He got his answer during breakfast that day.

An air of oppression hung through the entire great hall, talk was subdued, people talking uncharacteristically quietly amongst themselves. Harry raised a questioning brow at Malfoy, who wordlessly handed him a newspaper.

**Grindelwald’s forces have made it to Britain?!**

**_Minister Spencer-Moon in talks with muggle prime minister Churchill_ **

**Key figures within Grindelwald’s forces have been spotted in Dover last night, killing several muggles in a small scale raid. This is the first time the dark lord’s forces have ever attacked in Britain, will this mark the end of peace for our isles?**

**It is speculated these individuals crossed over via portkey, though this has not yet been confirmed. Confirmed to have been seen at the raid are: Marius Greywind, Achille Dorean, and Lorelei Black. All of these individuals are highly ranked within Grindelwald’s army, and are known to be notoriously cruel.**

**The suspects managed to get away before aurors got on the scene, and thus have not yet been apprehended. The ministry asks all to be extremely cautious for as long as the suspects have not been apprehended. The suspects are extremely dangerous, and known to use lethal force, even against fellow wizards.**

**If you’re asking me, dear readers, the ministry has no excuse to stay passive any longer. Though muggles were the victim today, there is no guarantee it won’t be wizards tomorrow. Grindelwald has decided to bring the war to our doorsteps, how long before your children will be targeted, your spouse, your families.**

Harry blanched, his eyes immediately searching out Severus. Severus caught his eyes, both of them sharing the same look of utter despair. From what Harry knew about Grindelwald, he or his forces had never directly attacked within the UK. This could mean only one thing.

Their arrival had altered the past, somehow.

Harry remained silent during breakfast, a lump in his throat, his heart beating far faster than it should. He felt panicked, his hands were sweaty and shaking. How could this have happened? Did he remember things incorrectly? How could they have caused Grindelwald’s forces to appear in the UK? It didn’t make any sense to Harry.

If Harry had been paying any attention towards his fellow classmates, he would have noticed that it wasn’t just dread weaving through the great hall. Subtly, some seemed excited by the developments. If Harry had bothered to study Nott or Avery, for example, he would have noticed the manic gleam in their eyes at hearing the news.

After breakfast, Harry ambushed Severus. As much as he wanted to be left alone, this was not the time. Something was going on, and it was likely they had caused it. He dragged Severus towards an isolated enclave, and in hushed tones they began speaking.

‘Severus. Please tell me I’m remembering things wrong.’ Harry pleaded, his meaning immediately clear to Severus.

Severus shook his head. ‘No, you aren’t. Grindelwald was never supposed to directly attack Britain, such an attack like this never happened in our.. timeline.’

‘Merlin.’ Harry sighed miserably, rubbing his eyes. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck. How is this happening? How could anything were doing possibly have caused this?’ Harry wondered.

‘Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?’ Severus asked, not waiting for Harry’s answer, he continued speaking. ‘A small change in initial conditions can result in large changes in later stages.’ Severus explained. ‘In other words, a ripple effect. Perhaps Grindelwald always considered attacking Britain, but one thing we did influenced another thing, which influenced another thing again, and so on, which eventually caused Grindelwald to be swayed to attack Britain.’

Harry frowned. ‘That could explain things. Merlin, Severus, does this mean we made things w _orse_?’ Harry despaired.

‘Possibly.’ Severus said honestly. ‘We no longer have a reliable way of knowing how history will come to pass. We have no idea how Grindelwald attacking _now_ well play out in the long run.’ Severus started to pace. ‘But, we should not be disturbed by this. Killing Voldemort was always going to have an influence on the timeline, and even then we wouldn’t have known whether that would mean a better or worse future in the end. At least we managed to learn one thing from this.’ Severus pointedly looked Harry in the eyes, waiting for him to give the answer.

‘We _can_ chance the future.’ Harry understood. ‘It isn’t like a time-turner- We can stop the rise of Voldemort, time isn’t fixed.’ Harry continued, fire burning in his eyes once again. What they were doing here wasn’t futile, at least, they now had confirmation of that.

‘Severus. I’ve been thinking these past few weeks. I don’t want to kill Tom.’ Harry straightened his back, looking Severus straight in his eyes, challenging the older man to oppose his decision. ‘I truly believe he can be saved. He’s just a scared boy, Severus, I think there is good in him. We should give him a chance.’

Severus shook his head in defeat, a wry smile painting his features. ‘I figured as much, Hadrianus. I’ve seen the two of you interact, I already dreaded this would be the outcome.’ Severus drawled.

‘Will you stop me?’ Harry asked, his voice soft.

‘Hadrianus, I’ve vowed to protect you. If this is the path you’ve decided to walk, I will not oppose you. I might not agree with you, but you are the one that is intertwined with the dark lord. If you truly believe this will lead to best outcome, I will stand with you.’

‘Thank you, Severus.’ Harry said, smiling brightly, for the first time in weeks, as far as Severus was aware.

He’d make sure Harry would come out of this alive, Severus promised to himself. It didn’t matter if Grindelwald would attack Hogwarts himself, if he had to kill Dumbledore, or even if he had to burn Hogwarts to the ground. He’d protect Lily’s child, and redeem himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've really been into Vampire: the masquerade these past few months. One of my friends is obsessed with it, and basically forced me into it. He constantly talked to me about it, and really wanted to play it with me and another friend. When I finally budged, and made a character, I became really into it. We play weekly now. 
> 
> I'm hoping to have an update somewhere next week. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked reading this! If you spot a typo, feel free to point it out. I tend to type fairly fast, so I sometimes don't notice them.


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